Secrets
by Mikaza1498
Summary: Lukas and Jesse have known each other/been each other's friend for four years, and have been dating for one. Everything is good between them, there is just one problem… their separate friend groups… don't know. With their secret growing harder to keep with each passing year, what they didn't need was a Witherstorm… Follows the MCSM story line with my own twist... Lukesse/Jesskas
1. Chapter 1

**HI...!**

 **everyone, welcome to my newest story! I am not going to say too much but this story does follow the MCSM plot with my own twist. I made this fanfic because I just thought 'what if Lukas and Jesse were freinds before the events of MCSM' and I couldn't find anything on the subject. I thought it was kind of surprising, so why not just create my own! I am super excited for this fic, I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer- If you've seen it before it doesn't belong to me...**

 _Nothing built can last forever, and every legend, no matter how great, fades with time. As the years pass, detail after detail is lost until all that remains are myths, half-truths… to put it simply, lies. But the legend of The Order of the Stone indoors as self-evident fact.  
_

The first member of the Order of the Stone was Gabriel, the best warrior in the land. He was strong, smart, strategic and used the best weapons. Anyone who met the bad end of his sword would end up regretting it.

The second member was Ellegaard, she was a redstone genius. Her inventions inspired millions of other redstone experts to invent new contraptions and even new _blocks_. No one would ever be as great as her, and everyone knew it.

The third member was Magnus, he was their TNT and mob expert. He knew every dangerous mob on the planet like the back of his hand and was also the inventor of TNT. A block that when ignited will blow everything around to bits and hurt people… he was the original griefer, and anyone who was a griefer besides Magnus worshipped the ground he walked on.

The fourth and final (?) member was Soren, he was the leader of the Order of the stone, and was known for his amazing architecture. Every builder studied his designs and the city buildings he created like they were build by notch himself.

They were everyone's heroes, not only were they a great team but they defeated a mob that was so old people started to believe it was a myth… the Ender Dragon… the mob that ruled over the Enderman.

Their legend would continue for decades… but every person… every team has their secret; and The Order of the Stone was no exception. The difference?

Their secret almost caused the whole world to be destroyed.

They created a mess, and no one knew it when they first heard about the great Order of the Stone… that they would need to be saved, from their own demons.

* * *

 **POV: JESSE**

 **FOUR YEARS BEFORE**

After a few days in the brand new tiny town she moved to, Jesse had learned two things;

One, the people there were about as closed minded as a pig being offered to eat sand. (Yes they were that bad) She felt like the new kid in the middle of the school year, she walked down the streets and everyone made a clear path for her and whispered about the new girl from Oak city. It wasn't exactly what she was expecting when she moved there;

Two, the small town was exactly like a stupid high school, a day and anyone with a quarter of a brain could figure that out. Each part of town was divided into sections from geeks, to nerds, to populars, to redstone freaks, to losers, and like you would expect she didn't know where she fit in and quite honestly she didn't know it she wanted to.

All that Jesse knew, one hundred percent, besides the two things above, is that she just needs to have a sliver of faith, and hope that her life will get better.

So to start off, Jesse decided to start on her treehouse. She bought a piece of land out in the dark oak forest and planned on living there, she decided to go with a treehouse because… she felt bad for cutting down all those trees to make her new home.

So, using all the tradable goods she had, she hopped around town buying all the supplies she would need to build her home. So far, it had been successful. The town was small but had everything you can imagine.

Jesse was done with her shopping and was heading down the path to her piece of land. She was juggling so much stuff, her inventory being completely full to the brim. Jesse felt like she was going to drop something important.

Along the way, she past a young man about her age, maybe a few years older. He had long blonde hair that fell into his cyan blue eyes. He was a little taller than her by a few pixels and wore a plain purple T-shirt with black jeans and white tennis shoes. Jesse had seen him around town a few times, and he would just stare at her like everyone else, so her hopes were low.

Jesse started to walk faster to get away from him. As soon as she got within a few blocks he looked up and stared at her, moving to the side a bit to give her more space to move. She internally cursed at him and walks about two blocks past the stranger before she hears someone clear their throat.

"Hey," Jesse heard behind her. Jesse managed to turn around to face the blonde stranger. "Need some help?" The blonde gulped and cleared his throat again.

Jesse was at first a bit sceptical but smiled in relief.

"Oh Notch, yes," Jesse said in thanks, she walked closer to him and dumped about half her inventory into his hands. "Notch, you have no _idea_ how hard it is caring all this supplies from town to the middle of the forest. Thank you so much by the way, you are literally the only person who has spoken to me since I have gotten here. I don't understand why, I mean I get I'm new but I don't have eight arms or a glowing red eye. I might be crazy but I am _not_ that much of a freak. By the way, are they like that with everyone… that… comes… to… town…?" It hit her that she was rambling and clenched her jaw shut.

"Sorry, I talk _way_ too much." Jesse blushed in embarrassment. The stranger laughed good naturedly

"It's alright, just thought you needed some help," the blonde said. "And don't worry too much about the towns people, they'll warm up to you, sooner or later." Jesse couldn't fight the kind smile off her face.

"Again, thank you so much, I am taking all this stuff this way, just follow me, thank you," Jesse and blondie started to walk down the path with their inventories full. The blonde shrugged again.

"Again, it's alright, besides, if I was carrying all this by myself I'd be begging for people to help," Jesse snorted.

"Yeah, no kidding," Jesse sighed. "This is a lot, and this might not even cover what I will need." The blonde looked down at him arms.

"You building a mansion or something?" He asked. Jesse blushed darker red and shook her head.

"No, I'm building a treehouse, but most of the stuff will go into furniture and decorations… that's why I have so much…" Jesse trailed off. The blonde chuckled.

"Huh, smart." He said. Jesse smiled at his kindness and they walked a little bit more. He cleared his throat for a third time. "So, you just moved here?" Jesse nodded quickly.

"Yup, a couple days ago, have you lived here your whole life?" Jesse asked. The blonde bit his lip.

"No, I moved to the arena about eight months ago. And trust me, _that_ was an absolute nightmare as well." The blonde shook his head. Jesse chuckled to herself.

"Yeah, I am pretty sure either I'm back in high school or I have the plague." Blondie hummed.

"Yeah, sounds about right." The two continued to walk until they came across the trees Jesse would be using for her treehouse. Four small chest stood at the base, and with blondes help Jesse managed to organize her supplies into each chest.

They duo talked the whole time, laughing at some stories from when they first moved there, and getting along.

Jesse felt like she finally made a friend.

"... yeesh, that must have sucked." Jesse told the blonde. He nodded. "What was it liked living in glass central?" (Glass central is the nickname for a city in the middle of the desert that specializes in making all things glass.)

"It's hot," The blonde deadpanned. "I moved here for the cool air, the snow in the winter, and because of Endercon." Jesse turned her head.

"I have never heard of Endercon." Jesse told him. He crossed his arms in surprise.

"It's a convention, honoring the Order Of the Stones defeat of the enderdragon." Jesse made an 'o' with her mouth.

"Sorry, I'm from Oak city, which is… across the map," Jesse blushed. The blonde smiled.

"You don't like attention much," Jesse shook her head at her friends comment. "It's okay, I get it…" they both stood in silence, because their job was done and they had no excuse to stay in each other's company.

Jesse sighed.

"You better get going," Jesse said, sadly. The blonde nodded, before looking up.

"You know," the blonde said. "I'm told to be a pretty good builder." Jesse frowned, not knowing where this was heading but liking that he'd get to stay longer.

"Yeah?" She asked. The blonde nodded.

"Yup, but, I could be wrong too, my mom can be pretty biased." Jesse tried to force a smile down but she only made it worse with each passing awkwardly silent second. She ended up bursting into a fit of silent laughter that got a chuckle out of her friend. "So~, how about I help you with your treehouse." Jesse quickly sobered and nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Jesse exclaimed. They exchanged smiles before the blonde flinched.

"Oh Notch, I'm an idiot." The blonde offered Jesse his hand. "I'm Lukas, by the way." Jesse smiled and shook his hand.

"I'm Jesse, it's good to meet you."

Jesse knew she found a friend, but she didn't know how crazy her friendship with him would get.

* * *

Two months pass by, during that time, Jesse and Lukas progress on Jesse's house had been amazing and Lukas was a great builder. Whenever Lukas showed up to help her out Jesse had a fun time. She really liked his friendship.

But that's not all;

Jesse made two other friends Axel and Olivia. (Though Jesse's new friends and Lukas hadn't met, sadly.) Jesse met Olivia first then Axel later. She quickly learned that they were the odd men out of the small town, or the way Olivia put it, "The Losers." Jesse quickly found out that the might have been made of (what is supposed to be) mature adults but the town being like a High school, the majority bullied or teased her new friends. Then her in return just because she was associated with them.

As for Lukas, he was never around to see her teased, but whenever she told him about it later on he would scowl in disapproval.

Lukas seemed to be very kind to Jesse, he would tell her about the few friends he's made in the last few months. He told her that they were good people with good heart, but he said that they loved to gossip which bugged him but he chose to see past that. Jesse nodded agreeing with him on his decision but advised to not get hooked into it as well, and to make sure the gossip didn't go too far over the line.

Besides that, everything was fine for Jesse. Her new friends, Olivia and Axel even asked for her to be on their team for The yearly Endercon building competition.

Jesse agreed happily; she even instantly told Lukas the next day in excitement when he came by to help out with her treehouse.

Lukas seemed happy for her, but was a little sad as well. He explained that they were going to be rivals since he agreed to join his other friends team.

Jesse (being the competitive girl she was) kicked him out of her treehouse and told him, "We will continue construction after the competition, and we aren't allowed to speak to each until then, so we keep our builds a secret… now; SHOO YOU EVIL CAT!" (Turns out, Lukas was a huge cat person, unlike Jesse who was more into dogs.)

Lukas laughed in reluctance but agreed.

The day of the competition was when they realized the messed up situation they were in.

As soon as they (Jesse, Olivia and axel) went to registration, Jesse heard an annoying snooty voice say, "Look, Gill, The Order of the Losers got a new member." Olivia flinched but Axel groaned. They both turned around before Jesse.

"Ahh man, not _them_ ," Axel hissed in Olivia's ear.

Jesse, frowning and fist clenched, turned around to face whoever said the rude comment.

At first all she saw were two guys and a girl, one with military short brown and light green eyes, the other guy with black eyes and short black hair. The girl with thin brown hair and grey/blue eyes.

Then she saw who was behind them, looking at her with wide blue eyes.

Lukas.

"Great, another one," Olivia muttered obviously referring to Lukas.

"Hey, Lukas," one tapped Lukas shoulder. "Those are the losers we were talking about earlier." Lukas eyes hardened, as he looked away from Jesse.

"Why are _they_ building again," The only girl, who Jesse assumed was Maya, sneered loudly for Axel and Olivia to hear. "They've lost every year!"

"Lets just get to our booth," Olivia muttered, turning to walk away. Axel was bright red with flushed anger but followed Olivia.

Jesse was about to follow, with little hope that Lukas was going to be friends with her anymore… because he didn't defend her friends and quite honestly it angered her; but she found hope when she heard Lukas say, "Guys come on, was that necessary?" Jesse stopped behind the gate to listen more.

"Who cares." The one who made the comment about them being the, "Order of the Losers," said. "They are just a bunch of hopeless nerds."

"Your opinion is your opinion but you don't have to be so rude about it."

"Lukas, just forget about them, they aren't worth your time." Maya said.

"So why do you make fun of them?" Jesse didn't hear any of Lukas friends utter a word after that.

"Just forget it, Lukas." One guy said. "But once you see their building abilities you will know what we are talking about." The other two snorted with a, "yeah."

"Sad too," One said. "That new girl, I thought she was good material but now… she must not be too bright if she's hanging with those two duds." Lukas was silent, Jesse could hear the internal struggle within Lukas.

"Lets just sign in and get to our booth." Lukas said hollowly.

Jesse risked turning around and looked at Lukas, he must have noticed, or maybe he planned it, but he looked at her too. They exchanged a silent conversation in half a second.

" _We need to talk_ ," she said.

" _I know_." He responded.

" _Come over tomorrow_."

" _I'll be there, and sorry about them_."

"... _thanks for sticking up for us_." With that Jesse walked around until she found her booth with her friends.

As soon as she found her friends Axel motioned his head towards the registration booth.

"Those are the guys we were telling you about," Axel tells her. "They've been tormenting us since we were both 14 new year's." Jesse didn't responded.

"What's sad is that they got their claws in the new guy," Olivia told Axel. "I thought he was different." Axel grunted in disagreement.

"Well he's not if he's buddy-buddy with those jerks." Axel turned his back to both Jesse and Olivia.

"Can we not talk about this," Jesse asked. Both her friends looked at her, Axel with narrowed eyes and Olivia with confusion. "Sorry… it's just, his name is Lukas and he helped me carry supplies for my treehouse… maybe he's not that bad?" Axel snorted but Olivia slumped.

"That was before he knew you were associated with us," Axel sneered, looking at Lukas specifically this time. "Just forget him, Jesse." Jesse frowned at that, because that was the exact problem.

The next day, Jesse was up on the top floor of her treehouse, working on the first wall, figuring out a good design when she heard someone climbing the ladders.

Jesse turned to see Lukas climbing out of the little hole in the floor. They exchanged looks quickly, the silence was suddenly awkward between them. Jesse was the first to look away and walked to the closest chest, where she dumped forty blocks of spruce wood planks into it.

Lukas slowly climbed onto the third floor and sat down, his legs still in the entrance from the second floor to the third.

"So~," Lukas broke the silence. Jesse sighed, and walked to sit next to him, she was curled into herself chin resting on her knees.

"Your friends bully my friends," Jesse stated the obvious. Lukas flinched and it was like the dam broke.

"Jesse, I am so sorry about yesterday," Lukas blurted. "I didn't know they would act that way, sure they gossiped but… but… _bully_ , I didn't know they would go that far. I don't know what I would do if I had known they were like that… I don't know what to do Jesse! Sure they do… _that_ , but at the same time… they are my friends and they have good hearts, you've heard the stories I've told you about them. But they do _that_ , and I don't want to hang out with jerks, but they are good people…" Lukas held his head, his long blonde hair hiding his eyes.

"I don't know what to do," Lukas sighed. "I can't help but see their good qualities but at the exact same time I can't help but see their bad ones too. And I don't think I can ignore the bad ones anymore than I can like their good ones." Jesse sighed, not knowing what to say even in the slightest.

"I believe you," Jesse muttered. "And I understand, I got a sister the exact same way; can be a real jerk, a plain old bully, to the people she didn't like for the dumbest reasons... but when I see her at home, cooking dinner and cleaning my old house or babysitting… it's like they are two separate people in one body. You can't help but love them but also… deeply dislike them..." Lukas nods, knowing that it was true.

"So what are we going to do?" Lukas asked, voice hollow and hard with distaste for the situation they found themselves in. "I don't want to chose between my friends, Jesse, and I am not going to make you chose. And I have a feeling neither one of our friends will except our friendship… this is like some messed up version of Romeus and Juliet." Lukas covered his mouth with the palm of his hand while Jesse thought.

"What if…" Jesse thought. "What if… we find some middle ground? I might have not have known Olivia and Axel for long, and I know they will not like you for who you associate with, but if we could get… at the least… get Maya, Gill and Aiden...?" Jesse asked just to make sure she got the names right. Lukas nodded.

"To stop with the teasing, and get them to at least agree that we can be friends without them having to have anything to do with us, maybe… maybe, we can have our friendship, still manage to keep our friends, and get your buddies off Olivia's, Axel's, and I'm guessing mine too, backs. What do you think?" Lukas face was passive for a few minutes, with each passing second Jesse started to see the flaws in her plan. She started to doubt herself, and it came in the form of a heavy blush.

Suddenly, Lukas nodded.

"I think it's doable." Lukas agreed seriously. "And as a bonus I can keep the teasing to a minimum… I mean, Aiden, Gill and Maya might be arrogant but they aren't evil. I think I could get them to see the error of their ways… the only problem is, they can't know I'm associated with you, and we have to ease them into this; It might take awhile." Jesse huffed, thinking some more.

"Well then, Lukas, Welcome to Romeus and Juliet, FRIENDSHIP RIVALRY ADDITION, playing Romeus we have LUKAS, playing Juliet we have, THE AMAZING JESSE!" Lukas cracked a smile that he couldn't ease off his face, smiling like an idiot… before frowning mockingly.

"Why am I just 'Lukas' and you are the 'amazing Jesse?"

 **Okay, got that done!**

 **I hope you have enjoyed, if you see any grammical errors, my apologies, that is my worst area in writing. I would love your guys opinion, tell me if I am wasting my time with this story. Ehh, what else...**

 **Oh yeah! If you have any ideas... like... little lines or moments from inbetween cuts in the actual game, or anything that you expect to happen in this please tell me, I would love for your guys help. Also, please tell me if the character are too OOC, and how to fix it, I appreciate everyone who has read this story. Thank you.**

 **bye!**

 **-Kayla.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi!**

 **Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews! I loved all of them, and I appreciate them all!**

 **Thank you to, The AmberShadow, LittleAngelbun, RapidSammi, AquaK13, wildkratticusfever, S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101, AKawaiiPotato and A Random Guest!**

 **Responses to the people that reviewed as a 'guest' will be at the bottom!**

 **POV: JESSE**

Jesse was bored… that is really the only way to put it. She was very, very, bored.

It was the first day of Endercon, and like every year, without fault, it was also the day of the yearly building competition. Jesse and her two amazing friends, Axel and Olivia, had decided to build a Fireworks machine, with an Enderman on top to hide the machine because… it's _Ender_ con. To Jesse it seemed obvious.

After Jesse and her friends met up at her (then finished!) treehouse, they started to head down to the competition, but that was when inspiration struck and Olivia came up with the idea to build an Enderman. Because it was a last minute idea, Jesse, Olivia and Axel all separated to grab more materials.

Jesse had finished gathering what she was assigned to gather, and used the opportunity of her friends being gone to sneak off to a small little section of trees _far_ away from the river. Where her friends were.

At the trees, Jesse sat down and did nothing for a little while. She had no idea how much time had passed. she knew it was long enough to get her bored to the point she was doing _push-ups_ to pass the time; but not too long to cause her friends to get suspicious of her disappearance.

As mentioned earlier, Jesse was doing push-ups to pass the time, while she mentally thought of why she was there. Yet, all the while her 'pet' pig of almost a year, Reuben, snorted and trotted around her.

Reuben was Jesse's 'pet', 'pet' in quotation marks because Jesse didn't like that word when it came to Reuben. The little piglet was her best friend, or at the least tied for first place. He was smart, silly, and loyal to the end; Jesse couldn't ask for a better animal companion.

Whenever people ask about Reuben, or just start teasing her having the little piglet, Jesse would say, "At first I thought I was a dog person but they are too hard to get; then I thought I was a _people_ person, but they are too _annoying_. but turns I am a pig person, they are just right!"

Normally that made them either drop the subject or shut them up long enough for her to leave… _with_ Reuben following behind with the best piggy smirk on his face.

The little piglet was (to say the least) the best, and Reuben was young, so Jesse was hopeful to keep him for a long while. He was also a symbol for her…

But, sometimes Reuben wanted to be evil (for whatever reason) and decided to play a joke on her. Today was not her lucky day because Reuben was sitting on top of her while she did her little bored out-workout.

Jesse arms were shaking with the weight of her best piggy friend on her back and grunted each time she got low enough for it to be considered a push up. Or at least to her old PE teachers standards. (Which was her elbows at a 90 degree angle)

After her tenth one, she collapsed with her face buried in the grass with a soft moan.

"Reuben," Jesse moaned into the dirt. "Can you please get off?" Just as the sentence left her grass-filled mouth Reuben let out a small squeal and ran off Jesses' back. What confused her is that the squeal didn't come from her threatening the piglet with no treats for a week, nor did it sound like a scared squeal; it was a very happy one. She also heard an amused giggle from somewhere directly in front of her.

Jesse lifted her head up and saw Lukas slightly crouching down with Reuben running around in circles at his heels in excitement.

Yes technically Reuben 'belonged' to Jesse, but he still loved Lukas just the same. After all, Lukas was there when Jesse found him, and he gave him a carrot!

Lukas held his hand out to Reuben and rubbed the top of Reubens' head. Reuben snorted with pleasure.

"That was ingenious," Lukas told Reuben with another giggle. "I don't think I've ever seen her struggle so much." With that obvious tease towards Jesse she threw the closest thing to her hand at her boyfriend of one year; which was a small stick.

All it did was bounce harmlessly off his shoulder, and Lukas' stupid, growing, smirk did not help.

You would think that after four years, they would have figured out their friends rivalry… no, they have not. Aiden, Gill and Maya still just loved making fun of Olivia, Axel and now Jesse… for absolutely no reason; and that was just the beginning. Now Olivia and Axel had started to believe that Lukas was the ringleader of the little gang. It has been implanted in their minds ever since Lukas entered their names in the yearly building competition under The Ocelots. It might also be because whenever Lukas' buddies start teasing Jesses' friends he normally steers them away. As you can imagine, it just made the situation worse.

Then, just to add the _tiny_ cherry on top, somewhere in the last few years Lukas and Jesse started to grow feeling towards each other… until they started to secretly 'date.' Which was normally dinner at Jesses' house or going out of town to wherever they had planned.

It was a disaster to say the least.

Lukas had told Jesse many times that he was getting to the end of his patients with his friends. He loved them when it was just the four of them but as soon as someone they didn't like came around suddenly they turned to jerks. It wasn't what Lukas wanted to see, it wasn't he wanted to surround himself with, but Jesse always managed to convince him to not give up on his friends.

"Was that necessary, Jesse?" Lukas scowled, playfully. Lukas motioned his hand to tell Reuben to face Jesse. "You could have hurt your innocent best pig." Jesse rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile.

She got up, and brushed herself off. They quickly both shared a long hug.

They had a strict rule they followed every year. When Endercon came along, they aren't allowed to talk or see each other for four weeks until the day of Endercon. To keep their separate builds a secret.

But they always met up the day of the competition, whether after or before just to talk.

This year was different for them though.

They pulled away from each other, but stayed less than a foot apart. Reuben was nuzzling Jesses' foot like, "remember I'm still here!"

Jesse took a quick (LIES) look over Lukas overall.

Back when they first met, Lukas had his long blonde hair down and it hung in his eyes. He wore a plain purple T-shirt with black jeans and white tennis shoes.

He looked a lot different right then and there. Lukas had black tennis shoes, blue jeans, a white and purple striped T-shirt.

His hair though, was what changed the most. Firstly, for about a year or so, Lukas was really into hats, like _obsessed_ with them. Now he still likes them but he wore the same straw hat everyday for _one year and six months straight_ , and it took _four months_ of convincing, bribery, lectures, and plain _begging_ to get him to get rid of the hideous thing. It took just as long to also achieve what Jesse believes is her greatest accomplishment…

She managed to style his hair. The first look was inspired by the fact Lukas liked to tease her for 'looking like a greaser,' she used a lot of gel to get the slick back/to-the-side, clean look, like they did years before when the look was popular. She taught him how to do it, and he's been doing it himself ever since. (TAKE THAT LUKAS!)

She even managed to become his official barber.

Every time she cuts his hair she tried something different, but still had the undeniable 'greaser' look to it; just to annoy the nether out of him. Yet still make him grudgingly love it. Sometimes when they meet up before Endercon he _makes_ her do it, but today was not (was?) her lucky day, he already did it.

His hair was cut short on the sides, but still long on top, the sides of his hair was gelled back while the top of his hair was gelled to the back/side. The hair giving off a wave like look.

Lukas blushed when Jesse stared too long.

"Did I mess up?" Lukas asked, bringing his hand up to pat his hair, being very careful to 'not make it worse.' "I should have had you do it, but I thought I wouldn't mess up…"

"No, no, no!" Jesse sputtered. "You look good, but you always look good. I mean, your hair is perfect…" Jesse blushed, wrapped her arms around Lukas and slammed her face into his shoulder.

"WHY~!" Jesse groaned. "Am I so bad at this?" Lukas smiled, getting a sparkle in his eyes that didn't normally come out. Lukas pulled away from the hug enough to get her to raise her head up at him.

"Because you're Jesse, and you are adorable." Lukas complemented. Jesse could tell her was ignoring the urge to blush. But all she did was frown.

"You do know you're opinion is biased, therefore null and void." Lukas rolled his eyes. He muttered something along the lines of, "this is pointless." Next thing Jesse new, she found herself being kissed very softly by her boyfriend. It was the type that made you just want to melt and relax.

All I can say is, you go a whole month without seeing your significant other and not end up kissing them for at least two minutes!

They both stopped their mini make out section with Lukas hair almost a disaster and both of them flush against each other… and after Reuben head but into Lukas' leg.

They both ignored the pig (thought they both had a small blush on their cheeks) and just sat down up against a random tree. Next to each other, shoulders pressed together, and Reuben sitting between them. (Jesse joked one time Reuben was their chaperone… the sentence ended up half finished and both of them having not so good images about what exactly 'Reuben was keeping them from _doing_.')

Jesse frowned once they sat down and she noticed something.

"Awe, did the jackets not come in yet?" Jesse asked, slightly disappointed. Lukas' eyes widen.

"What!? No, they came! I just haven't put it on yet." Lukas said, on the defensive. He was going pale and started to fidget. "My team loves them by the way. They thought they looked amazing, your dad did amazing. I already wrote a letter thanking him…" Lukas' gulped.

"Though, his threatening letter was not what I ordered." Lukas muttered. Jesse tried to keep herself from laughing.

Well that certainly explained why he was so nervous.

Jesses' dad was a clothing designer. Last time they visited her family, Lukas talked about wanting to get leather jackets for his team, and her dad said he could make them.

They were both afraid they wouldn't come in in time for Endercon.

The 'threatening letter' thing happened _all the time_ , at least once a month, but still managed to scare the Nether out of Lukas.

"Another one?" Jesse mocked. "Uhh, he's really upping the ante here."

"Jesse~! You aren't helping!" Lukas groaned.

"Oh come on, Lukas, you act like my dad doesn't do it to anyone else. Heck!- He still does it to Jessas' husband! Lighten up!"

"But he's your dad, he's terrifying!" Lukas groaned, putting his head on her shoulder.

"Wimp." Jesse teased. Lukas lift his head to glare at her.

"I hate you." He growled, setting his head back on her shoulder.

It was silent for a good few minutes. With Reuben oiking every now and then, and they watched the piglet run around before them. Some of the silly things the smart pig did ended making them both laugh.

They make little pointless comments every now and then. Jesse suddenly started to fidget, and when Lukas asked what was wrong she blurted, "What are you building for the competition?"

Lukas raised an eyebrow before a low smirk came across his face.

"What are you building for the competition?" Jesse huffed at that.

"We're building a fireworks machine, redstone clock and rare fireworks and all. With an Enderman in the front to make it look like the Mob has fireworks coming out of its head." Jesse answered. Lukas nodded, head still rested on her shoulder.

"We're building a rainbow beacon." Lukas deadpanned. Jesse tensed up, and her mouth found its way to the floor. She twisted herself around to stare at him with big eyes.

Lukas didn't show much emotion.

"Oh. My. Freaking. Notch!" Jesse shouted, and she punched his shoulder repeatedly. "That's why you wanted to know if Petra could get you a Nether Star!" Lukas broke into laughter, seeming to have no regrets.

"Oh and I made a speech about us winning today." Jesse moaned.

"Hey," Lukas giggled. "You could still win." Jesse just punched him harder.

"Awe, go to the Nether." Jesse cursed. Jesse pretended to be annoyed, but Lukas knew she was just faking it.

They sat in silence, Reuben just looking between his (what he wanted to believe) was his two owners and waiting for one to talk first.

It didn't take long for them to find a new topic.

"Do you think this is the year?" Lukas asked Jesse quietly. Jesse dropped the act, her face going back to the kind look she was known for. She sighed through her nose and thought.

"I don't know," Jesse replied. "Aiden, Gill and Maya have gotten better, but not good enough. And Axel and Olivia still believe you are not the nicest person in candy land." Lukas sighed too.

"I can just end any connections I have w-"

"No, we both agreed on this, Lukas. We are not going to chose, and we are not giving up." Lukas looked and saw the pure bold determination in Jesse's eyes. He nodded.

"Okay then." Lukas muttered. Jesse smiled and they sat there for a few more minutes.

They had to part when Olivia and Axel started to call Jesses' name. They shared one last hug before Jesse ran off, back into the forest, to look for her friends.

She blatantly ignored the disapproving look Reuben gave her...

 **Yes! Done!**

 **Next chapter I will start at the building competition! Because there is so much juicy stuff to twist to my Lukesse will, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **And I know none of you asked, but if read this I would find it a little hard to believe that a bully can be a good person. (Like I made Aiden)**

 **Think of it this way… he is … Luke Castellan, the Doctor Wells/reverse Flash for right now. You like him one moment, and then you get reminded they are the villain that killed the main character's mother! *pauses* sorry, wrong fandom… But I hope you get the point I'm trying to make, and if you have no idea what the heck I'm talking about…**

 **Watch The Flash on Netflix or CW, it is worth the binge.**

 **PS, I am not good at fluff. Kissing, or any of that. I'm sure I could write it, but knowing other people will read it is where I get weird about it. So, my apologies.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention in the AN last chapter… (sorry I will do this a lot) Last chapter I said in the actual story, "I don't have eight arms or a glowing red eye." (Jesse said this) That was a reference to the amazing Ariza Luca story "Hybrid!" If you haven't read it, I suggest you give it a try!**

 **Alright! Responses to GUEST reviews!**

 **TheAmberShadow- Thank you.**

 **LittleAngelBun- Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!**

 **AquaK13-Thanks.**

 **AKawaiiPotato- Thanks! And I'm here you could have waited. *teasing smile* What do you mean by Aiden isn't neat?**

 **A Random Guest- Thanks. You were the only one to point out the reference…. shocker… and thanks about the grammar and spelling, I suck at both. Okay, another thing I forgot to mention is that… I used RomeUS instead of RomeO on purpose. Why? Because Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet after he read an epic poem entitled RomeUS and Juliet, I looked it up and found that the two stories were fairly similar, except for (really) time period. So I went with Romeus instead of Romeo because; one, I like the name better, and two it was to separate our world from the MCSM world a tiny bit more. Sorry, I forget to tell people stuff a lot… If you feel like it was too annoying, I can edit it out.**

 **I hope you all have found my story tolerable so far. Remember I respect criticism but I only accept it if you have have at least one reason for not finding my story enjoyable. If you just say 'it's suck' then not only are you being rude but you are not helping me get better as a writer, so there is no point in reviewing. Also remember I don't mind accepting ideas any of you may have.**

 **Finally, thank you all for reading, I have appreciated it very much. Sorry for all the mistakes, and feel free to voice your opinions.**

 **Bye!**

 **-Kayla.**


	3. Chapter 3

**HI!**

 **Alright, remember! Review responses too 'guest' will be at the bottom!**

 **But thank you too… Anon136, A Random Guest, CamronXtheXGamer, EmLee and LittleAngelBun for the reviews! I loved them!**

 **POV: Jesse**

"We know what we're building, we've got all the stuff for it; we are so ready." Axel was saying to his friends, Jesse and Olivia.

Axel was a man much bigger than any normal human. He had broad shoulders and big hands, large hips… he was basically the perfect, ideal, football offensive tackle.

He wore a green hoodie in honor of his personal favorite Order of the Stone member, Magnus, brown cargo style pants and brown leather sandals. He had short black hair and a single unibrow that he somehow made work.

As for Olivia, she was the redstone specialist. She wore a red vest, white undershirt, black pants and belt, grey boots, had both a set of goggles and green beanie. She wore red in honor of _her_ favorite Order of the Stone member, Ellegaard.

Which is funny to Jesse, because just as what Ellegaard and Magnus specialized was the opposite, Axel and Olivia were opposites.

Olivia was more cautions, but she was open minded, kind, sensitive and loving. She wasn't willing to base people on what they've done, but more on what they are doing. Which Jesse admired greatly.

Axel on the other had was impulsive, rebellious, didn't show his emotions that often, and though he was kind, he had a tendency to hold grudges. But Jesse still cared about him, he was one of her best friends.

"This year, it's going to be different." Olivia told her friends. She sounded confident and encouraged. "I'm not just ready to build, I'm ready to win." Jesse didn't say anything, because her confidence had wavered after her meet up with Lukas.

Why the Nether did she have to say, "Petra can get you anything from the Nether."

Reuben seemed to sense her false confidence and oiked up at her, as if he was saying, "Have hope, they could mess up." Jesse didn't respond, because with Aiden there… she doubted it.

Just as they saw the entrance to the building competition, a guy walked by them.

"Nice pig losers."The random guy laughed. Jesse didn't have to turn around to know her friends have deflated in confidence.

Jesse looked at Reuben, seeing if he was still okay in the ender dragon costume… (Long story)

They kept walking despite the rude man.

"Oh great," Jesse heard Axel groan. Jesse turned around to look at him, who looked both angry and annoyed. She followed his gaze to the front desk… "there's Lukas and The Ocelots… The rivalry continues."

 _For you guys maybe._ Jesse thought to herself. Yet, what caught her attention were what they were all wearing.

"Man, they got matching leather jackets and everything." Olivia said, straddling the line between impressed and sounding jealous.

Jesse smiled to herself. The jackets were black leather with an embellished ocelot head on the back. They were four perfect replicas. Jesses' father really had outdone himself.

"So cool…" Axel muttered, much quieter than before. He obviously didn't want them to hear what he was saying. It was like that every year, they had something cool and Axel said he liked it then turned around and said he hated or disliked it just so he could get under there skin for once.

It always seemed to backfire, so much so that Jesse hoped that ruiten didn't happen that year. She was hopeful that the two groups could avoid each other enough to not have to deal with the teasing. But it seemed that she was in lucks bad graces because Aiden turned around with Lukas' back to him. (He looked like he was talking to the desk lady, most likely asking questions.)

Jesse internally sighed at the mischievous look that entered Aidens' eyes as soon as he laid eyes on the small group of friends.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Order of the Losers." Aiden mocked. Maya and Gill turned around and laughed when they saw them too.

"Great, the fail squad's here." Maya added. Jesse never understood the extent of the names. They were mean and did hurt, but they were _really_ bad and not creative what so ever. She was sure Reuben could figure something out better than 'Order of the Loser.'

"Lukas, Get a load of these losers!" Gill turned back around and tapped Lukas on the shoulders. Lukas turned his head, made eye contact with Jesse for a split half a second before he looked away. Not giving her or her friends a second glance.

"Let's go guys," Lukas said with no sort of force or demand, sounding very monotone, but it got Aiden, Maya and Gill to stop and the group all walked away. Aiden, Maya and Gill with their heads held high while Lukas just kept his head looking forward.

Jesse sighed, she just wished they would stop. That's all she wanted.

When Jesse and her friends got to the front desk the woman said, "Name please."

"Axel, and a how do you do?" Axel answered seriously, but sounding a bit confused as well.

The woman behind the desk frowned, whether in annoyance or confusion, Jesse couldn't tell.

"No, your team name." Desk lady said, voice not betraying how she felt. Jesse closed her eyes to help keep herself from sighing.

"Team name? We are not ready for this." Axel muttered. Of course, there is always something they all forget! Whether it's team name or an important component in a build, they always forget!

Jesses' head was flying with different ideas for team names but none stuck or sounded stupid; and trust her, they had some stupid team names before. She was hoping that Olivia would just say something because she could probably figure out a name.

"So much for losing anonymously." Olivia muttered quietly to her friends.

 _Well there goes that plan_. At this point, Jesse was willing to say anything. It had to at least sound cool, it had to be short, makes sense, and tie into their build...

"We're the..." _say something Jesse! Anything_! "Dead Enders?" Jesse could just envision the stupid smile on Lukas' face if he heard her, and judging by the fact The Ocelots were tittering at the name did not help her confidence.

"Woh, sounds like a name for pirates." Axel said. Jesse took a second thinking about it… Well, Axel wasn't wrong.

"Its cool." Olivia smiled at Jesse for picking the name. Jesse smiled, relieved that they both seemed to enjoy the team name.

"Okay, Dead Enders," The woman smiled, politely. "you guys are in booth five." Jesse nodded in thanks. Axel went to go into the competition area but got stuck in the gate. His large stature was the reason for him getting stuck, they don't exactly make gates for people who are more than half a block big.

Axel squeezed through the gate. To Jesses' anger, Gill, Maya and Aiden started to giggle at Axels misfortune. While Lukas glared at the back of their heads for making fun of Axels large size.

Axel looked down, looking ashamed, but kept walking towards their booth; with Olivia at his heels. Jesse watched the Ocelots walk to their booth and sighed.

The land that took up the competition was large with about nine booths outlined in oak fences, there was a platform in the center with furnaces, chest, and crafting tables around it… and a few dangerous lava block sources. Booth five was in the very back.

She walked straight for her own booth. She could walk around all she wanted and she could look in the chest scattered around, but she didn't want to waste her time with looking through stuff that didn't belong to her.

When she got into her booth the first thing that caught her attention was Axel and Olivia were staring bewildered at the booth next to theirs. Axel on the tip of his toes while Olivia just looked amazed.

Jesse stopped right next to Olivia and followed their gazes.

"Is that a freakin' beacon?" Axel muttered, at an utter lose. Of course it was the Ocelots booth.

Jesse knew that Lukas would never lie to her, but some deep part of her wish he would have lied about this just to mess with her. But there it was, a fresh looking beacon.

 _Darn him,_ Jesse thought.

"They have a freakin' beacon? Freakin' beacon!?" Axel muttered, almost shouted, sounding hysterical.

"Thats stained glass." Olivia pointed out almost instantly, after Aiden, Maya and Gill came up from their chest with different colored glass. Lukas still holding the beacon in his hand. "They aren't just building a beacon, they're building a rainbow beacon… We're gonna lose."

Jesse couldn't help but think, "ya got that right." But she couldn't say that. She made that speech that morning, and her stubbornness was much stronger than anything else. She was tired of seeing the stupid, teasing, borderline arrogant smile on Lukas' face whenever his team won. The stupid llama.

"What are you worried about, we got this." Jesse said, surprisingly easily, and half believable. Yet, Olivia still didn't look convinced.

"What are we kidding, we got nothing." Olivia deflated in confidence and will. That just added some fuel for Jesse to keep up hope in her little group.

"We got a… a mascot." Jesse rubbed the back of Reuben's ear, making him oik with pleasure. Olivia still looked doubtful as she looked back at the Ocelots.

"We should probably stop staring at them." Olivia told Axel and Jesse. When Jesse was about to look away just like her friends when Gill turned around.

"Hahahaha! Look it's the order of the losers. Again." Gill laughed. Aiden and Maya turned around and their obnoxious giggles followed after Gills.

Jesse wished she could stay Lukas was nearby, but he seemed to be mapping out the area… on the other side of the booth.

"Good one, Gill." Mayas' weirdly inhuman voice laughed. Jesse had to restrain herself from snapping back. She kept relaying the stories over and over again of how funny Maya was to Lukas.

 _What could happen in five minutes for a person to go from_ that to this, Jesse wondered.

"We're just looking." Olivia explained, eyes narrow slits and hard glares.

"They'll be plenty of time for you all to look at it after it wins and gets shown at Endercon." Aiden bragged with enough of an ego to fill a cavern.

"You're being unpleasant." Axel muttered enough for Olivia and Jesse to hear but not Aiden and his goon…. buddies.

"Maybe not all of you. Endercon doesn't allow outside food or drink." Aiden deliberately pointed at Reuben with a large evil smirk.

"I'm talking about your pig!" Aiden replied stupidly that Jesse had a… really hard time believing (even though she had personally seen the proof) that he got straight A's almost all through high school

"Uh, you really don't wanna mess with Reuben." Jesse warned, having flashbacks from that morning when Axel scared them with the creeper mask.

"I do whatever I want. Besides what harm can a pig do." Aiden sneered. Jesse was wise to not say anything. She could see Lukas practically stomping towards his friends, looking ready to push them thru a Nether portal.

"Keep talking and find out." Olivia snapped back.

"Stop wasting your time, Aiden." Lukas said angrily. He pointed to the center of their build. "We've got work to do." Aiden sent a glare in Jesses' direction.

"You're lucky I'm busy." Aiden sneered. Jesse could feel the tension in the group. She wished Aiden, Maya and Gill would take a hint sometime soon.

Aiden was about to leave when Jesse felt a presence next to her.

"Hey, Jesse. Guys." Jesse turned her head and her frown lifted into a smile. It was just Petra.

Petra is a tomboyish redhead that was Jesses' good friend. She had a turquoise bandana, pale skin, black vest, blue shirt, grey shorts and black boots. They (Jesse and Petra) met… two years before, when Jesse needed glowstone for a build. Petra was the girl you went to if you needed anything from the Nether. She was brave and smart and Jesse admired her for it.

She was also the one Jesse told Lukas that could anything from the Nether… even a Nether star.

"Hey, Petra." Jesse waved a little. Petra smiled lightly.

"How's the building going?" Petra asked nicely. Jesse made a face that would have answered it...

"Only time will tell. But we're optimistic." But Axel responded to Petra as well more clearly.

Lukas, having spot Petra Jesse guessed, walked towards them with his hand in the air in a hello gesture. He pushed past Aiden, maybe just to get by but Jesse liked to imagine it was a warning.

"Hey, Petra." Lukas smiled. "I forgot to thank you for that Nether Star." Petra shrugged.

"Hey, Lukas. Not a problem."

"You helped these tools." Axel hissed. Jesse quickly shot Axel a withering glare, telling him that he was out of line.

"For the right price," Petra raised her eyebrows, with a slight smirk on her face. "I'll help anyone. If you need anything, you know where to find me." Petra definitely had a smirk on her face after that, and started to stalk away.

"None of us know where to find you." Olivia shouted after her.

"Exactly." Was the redheads smug response. Making Jesse shake her head.

After Petra was good and gone, Lukas faced Jesses' friends.

"No hard feelings, guys." Lukas said in a general manure, Jesse knew he was just talking to Axel and Olivia. He rubbed the back of his head, a tick for when he's nervous. "If you're cool with Petra, you're cool with us. So why don't we just forget about all this, and, y'know… make this about how cool our builds are." Jesse should've kept her mouth shut, see what her friends thought first, and she knew that but she could see the smug look in her boyfriend's eyes.

"May the best team win." Jesse said, trying to keep it neutral, like they just signed a peace treaty with an enemy country. But it was thrown away once that arrogant smirk came across his facial features.

"Careful what you wish for." Lukas sing-songed. Jesses' smile melted, she was _this_ close to calling him an arrogant llama, just like she always does. Yet somehow she restrained herself.

 _But_ , she still couldn't help but think, _you are in so much trouble when you come over tonight._

"We'll see about that." Jesse muttered, glaring at him. He glared playfully back.

They couldn't even make themselves look away from each other when they announcements from the registration women got onto the center stage.

And it was hard to tell for both if it was from their competitive spirits, or from just refusing to look away from each other's eyes.

They were torn away from each other when they heard, "...will also meet, in person, Gabriel the Warrior!" They shared a final look before walking to their separate booths.

Axel and Olivia were cheering at the news and Jesse was smiling broadly.

"Ocelots! Ocelots! Ocelots!" Jesse would reconize that chant anywhere…

For months Lukas and his friends had been working a stupid handshake and had insisted on practicing with her. She knew that stupid handshake just as well, if not better, than all four of those nerds. (Yes, including Lukas…)

"Wow, handshake. We don't have a handshake." Olivia sounded sad, making Jesse say the first thing that popped into her head.

"We'll just make one up. We'll call it the… builder bump." Jesse nodded satisfied with the name.

Of course she knew it was a stupid idea, she knew nothing about secret handshakes. She just knew the one Lukas made up with his buddies. How was she supposed to make one up in two seconds.

It went as well as she predicted, _terrible_. Their hands stayed in the middle of their circle awkwardly, not moving.

"Aaa~nd just like that, I'm nervous again." Olivia shuttered.

"Don't talk like that!" Jesse encouraged, because there was no way in the whole Nether was she going to listen to another year of Lukas' bragging. "We can do this! Just stick to the plan and everything will be fine. This year, the Dead Enders can't lose!"

"Let's do it." Axel agreed.

"Building... starts... now!" The woman from sign in shouted. Jesse petted Reuben's ears before she joined with her friends in the building process. They started with the actual machine making sure the firework dispensers were high in the air so they wouldn't go off to low to the ground.

"Oh no!" Came Aidens sarcastic voice. Jesse took a breath and turned to look at Aiden, waving his hands in the air to add more sarcasm. "a fireworks dispenser! I'm so scared." Jesse knew that Lukas was already heading down to deal with it, but she couldn't help herself when she told him, "You worry about your build and we'll worry about ours."

Lukas grabbed Aidens shoulder and Jesse was lucky to have a strong breeze head from their direction to her, so she could pick up bits and pieces.

"Will… stop… had… enough." Lukas whispered.

"...Just… losers…that… important." Aiden responded.

"I… care… stop… warning." Lukas seemed to warn Aiden before getting back to their build. Jesses' smile brightened.

Jesse and her friends jumped down in record time to start on their Enderman. Building quickly and taking no time at all, it was like they were in a time lapse video.

They finished the build by adding the activation lever on the Enderman head. Overlooking the whole competition. From what Jesse saw, none were very good, some she couldn't even guess what they were…

Though there was this cool one, that was a miniature pool with a minecart slide going into it… looked like a cool mini ride.

But that was it.

"And now… the moment of truth." Jesse breathed, then nodded to Olivia.

"Here goes nothing." Olivia muttered, she bent down, sweating but she pulled the lever.

The fireworks shot into the air and exploded in vast colors and shapes in a colorful display. It looked amazing

"Oh man, that looks so cool." Axel smiled brightly, satisfied with more than just his firework craftsmanship. "We'll win for sure. The Enderman was definitely the right choice. Good call Jesse." Jesse smiled, happy with the praise.

People started to gather around, looking at their build with fascination.

"Guys, people are looking at us." Jesse muttered, smiling and waving at the on-lookers.

"Good build, man!" The man that made fun of them earlier called with a big goofy smile. Jesse smiled falsely at him.

Down on the ground, Aiden was looking bitterly up at his 'rivals' build.

"What? No way." Aiden growled. "It's just a bunch of dyed wool!" In a rage Aiden hit and destroyed the first block his fist came into contact with… which just so happened to be the only thing keeping a lava source block from spreading.

"Whoops." Aiden said. If he had any regret for breaking the block, he didn't show it.

The lava from the source block started to spread quickly, getting closer to The Dead Enders, build.

But it got even worse when Reubens' (who was still on the ground) ender dragon costume caught fire, making the piglet panic and run into the woods in his frenzy.

Jesses' eyes widen at the sight of Reuben running away with fire on his tail.

"Oh no, Reuben's on fire!"Jesse shouted. "Reuben, come back!" Her mind was racing, for there was not much more important in the world to her than that piglet.

"It was Aiden, that punk!" Axel sneered. Jesse looked down, looking at Aiden with sad eyes. In truth, Aiden did not look like he did it on purpose, he even seem scared of the lava, but she still couldn't believe the same man who kept Maya from walking head first into a freaking pool of lava while in a gave would do this.

"The lava's getting closer!" Olivia shouted, in a panic.

"It'll ruin the build!" Axel added, also in a panic.

"Reuben's going to get lost! We gotta do something!" Olivia growled, conflicted.

"But our build is about to go up in flames." Axel protested, also not sure what to do.

Jesse turned to her bickering (for good reason) friends and got their heads straight.

"We gotta get Reuben… NOW!" Jesse yelled, jumping off the Enderman, pushed past Aiden (making him fall.) and after Reuben.

"We're right behind you!" Olivia yelled after Jesse, running right at her friends heels.

(...LUKAS…)

Lukas had seen Aiden do many things in their mutual friendship. Some good, and admitily, some not good at all, but Lukas pretty much drew the line at harming Reuben. (Even if it wasn't intentional)

Lukas was at the top of the rainbow beacon when he saw Aiden hit the stone block and saw Reuben's costume catch fire. He was heading his way down (sadly having to be careful for fear of falling off and breaking something) then he saw Jesse and her friends run off into the woods after Reuben, it was Lukas that watched in horror while his girlfriends build started to burn to the ground. Ash already forming into full blocks on the floor. People were able to block the lava off, but the build was not salvageable… therefore disqualified.

Lukas stormed to Aiden once his feet hit the ground.

"Aiden!" Lukas yelled, already turning red, his hand out to make himself look bigger on impulse. "What The Nether were you thinking!"

Aiden looked like a cow that just saw an axe, but he quickly recovered with a hard glare.

"I just ensured _they_ don't win." Aiden spat, fixing his jacket. "I should be getting a 'thank you." Lukas was… appalled.

"' _Thank you'_?" Lukas asked. "'Thank you!' Aiden, you could have hurt someone! OR WORSE! Don't you understand that! And you hurt Jesses' pig!"

"Don't tell me you actually _care_ about that animal," Aiden smiled, looking ready to laugh. Lukas' eyes hardened, because he did in fact care for ' _that animal_.' "Right?"

"forget the fact you just hurt the pig!" Lukas snapped. "You just disqualified us from the competition, so it sure as the Nether wasn't worth it at all!" Aiden looked around.

"I don't see any judges disqualifying us." Aiden looked around one last time with a smirk. "Do you?" Aiden patted Lukas' shoulder.

"Relax man, we got this… just like every year." Aiden assured.

But it didn't help, Jesse was supposed to win. She worked so hard, and she had to admit… it looked really cool. It was unique and that would have done enough, even if it wasn't exactly complicated.

He was proud of her… but it was nothing but ash because of _his friend_.

Why did he keep finding himself feeling like this.

Lukas turned at looked at his build. It was… impressive, sure to win now…

Lukas eyes hardened, because Notch damn him if he was going to let Aiden get away with this.

Lukas wasn't a cheater, and he didn't like cheaters, and he wasn't going to start liking or agreeing with them now…

 **It is late where I am from! And I am tired! I am sure I missed a lot of mistakes while editing! But I am uploading anyway!**

 **God, help me.**

 **I can't think of anything to say. I am sorry this chapter isn't the best… :( but I have to stop here.**

 **Aiden is mean… should I save him in episode five? Or no? I'll leave it up to a vote when I get closer…**

 **(But tell me your opinions now if you feel like it)**

 **Responses…**

 **Anon136- THANK YOU! I am glad you like it!**

 **A Random Geust- hehehehe… threatening letters… hehehee. Yes, I agree, Exercise is torture, especially push ups. I cant even do one. Thank you for the nice review. I loved it, and thank you for your support it means a lot to me.**

 **EmLee- HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHH! YES MY LITTLE APRENTENCE! AHHAHAHA LAUGH! ;) (no need to apologize)**

 **LittleAngelbun- I'm glad you like my story! I'm going to assume you meant :) and not :0, so… :D thank you for the support.**

 **Sorry for mistakes, grammar or spelling or other...**

 **But... well... lalalalalalaalalalalla!**

 **Okay got that out of the way...**

 **Well I have nothing.**

 **BYE!  
-Kayla.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi.**

 **Thank you, wildkratticusfever, NotASingleThought, TheAmberShadow X2, EmLee and CamronXTheXGamer, your reviews were much apprieated and I loved them all!**

 **Review to any 'guest' will be at the bottom!**

Jesse, Olivia and Axel ran through the woods as fast as they could. Knocking branches and destroying blocks along the way. Trying to find Reuben in the dense forest.

Eventually they make it to a clearing surrounded by tall trees and between hills. They all panted, looking around desperately for their animal friend, but all they saw were trees and a sinking sun.

"I don't see him anywhere." Jesse said, sounding distraught. "Reuben!" She screamed into the forest.

She listened for a second, but no sound but her own echo came back in response.

"The sun's going down." Olivia observed. "We've gotta find him, fast." Jesse ran a hand through her hair is exasperation.

 _How was she going to find him when it's DARK!_

"He could've gone anywhere, and this part of the woods is huge." Axel added with a hint of fear in his voice. Jesse took a few deep breaths.

"We stand a better chance of finding him if we split up." Jesse told them through her pants. The others nodded.

"If either of you get lost, just use the lights from endercon to make your way back to town, got it?" Olivia shouted over her shoulder as she took off in one direction.

"Got it." Axel rushed off too, leaving Jesse alone.

Jesse jogged, more or less, farther into the forest. She slowed to a walk after 10 feet and looked around her.

"Reuben! Where are you?Just give me an oink if you can hear me." She shouted as she walked around the clearing, shouting her pigs name repeatedly.

Jesse growled in frustration, looking above the tree line to see smoke in the background.

She followed the smoke between two hills, she pasted some tall grass, a few roses and saw a large spruce tree on fire. Jesse muttered that Reuben must have ran past the area, as there was no nearby lava pits.

"It doesn't look like this fire will spread." Jesse noted to herself. The tree was separate from the others, so there was no way the fire would jump into a forest fire.

Jesse ran past the tree and into another clearing with pigs resting for the night in it.

"Come here, Boy! Reuben?" She shouted, as she walked past the pigs and deeper into the forest. She jumped into a mini ravine like place between two hills.

She walked a little father. "Reuben, it's getting scary out here..." Jesse just happened to turn her head when she saw a sight that made her heart stop.

Reuben's Ender Dragon costume. Smoking, black and grey with ash… "Reuben? Reuben?! Oh, no! You in there, buddy?" She raced to the costumes side, sucking in a breath as she hesitantly grabbed the stiff costume. "Oh, jeez, please don't be toasted, Reuben." She lifted the costume, half expecting to find an already cooked porkchop but she was met with nothing but more ash and grass.

Jesse put her hand where her heart was and took short gasps of relief. Reuben was safe… but still missing.

With that thought she jumped to her feet and continued on her journey to find Reuben. A quick ran down a few paths found herself at the mouth of a cave. A very dark cave.

Jesse gulped as she went inside, she past the stone blocks, the redstone torch (who the nether uses _redstone torches_ when lighting a cave?!) She was relieved when she found another opening, into another clearing. At this point she was never going to find Reuben.

She saw a group of tall grass that was shaking oddly against the wind. Jesse heart sank, but her mind raced with the possibility that is was Reuben.

She hesitantly walked up to the grass and peeked past the blades. There, in the center, was a shaking, shivering Reuben.

"Reuben, there you are," Jesse breathed, watching her pig slowly crawl out of the grass and to her feet. "I am so happy to see you." Jesse bent down and scratched the back of Reubens ear. He oiked and gave Jesse a piggy smile.

A soft moan broke the happy moment Jesse was building in her mind.

 _Zombies_.

Jesse turned and sure enough there was two zombies climbing out of the cave she just left.

The Zombies probably felt her presence and followed her, and who knows what else could be behind those things.

"Reuben… RUN!" Jesse and Reuben took off at full speed between two hills. Running as fast and as far as they could without passing out. They both stopped to catch a breath only to have a creeper come hissing up behind them.

They ran father, stopping for a second, then an arrow was shot and landed straight in her face. Skeletons. Are. The. Worst!

Jesse shouted something she couldn't understand and continued to run. With this in mind, Jesse screamed when she saw that she was stuck in a valley, the ledges too high to reach even if she jumped; with no blocks she stood no chance.

She remembers her brothers Jess words in that moment, " _if out at night, always have three things, torches, a stone sword or better, and blocks_." She had none of the above… _when will she ever learn_!

The soft moans of a hoard of zombies were dragging their feet as they came through the only entrance into and out of the valley.

Jesse turned around, and slowly backed up a little before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her wooden store that only had a few hits left of it.

 _Jess if I make this out alive I am so sending you a 'sorry for not listening to you' card_. Jesse thought.

Jesse told Reuben to stay close, and behind her. Reuben oiked his urgent agreement.

"I've got you." Jesse assured.

Jesse stepped forward and hit the Zombie with the sword multiple times until it died. She kill two more before her sword head broke, and the handle poofed into white smoke and splitters.

"Stupid wooden swords!" Jesse yelled, already backing away from the Zombies.

Just to make things worse a spider jumped off the hill behind her and landed in front of her, its front legs raised in defense.

"There's too many of them, buddy," Jesse told her pig. Reuben oiked in fear. "Don't leave that spot, no matter what. Okay?" Reuben oiked in agreement, probably wouldn't run off if she told him too. "I've got you." Jesse turned away for a single second, just as a Zombie came out of nowhere and hit Reuben in the eye.

"Get away from him!" Jesse shouted, punching the zombie with all her might. It was enough to kill the zombie.

"Oh no! He got you!" Jesse heart clenched. She should have told Reuben to run. How could she be so stupid!

Worse became unbearable when a second spider landed in front of them. The spider jumped on top of her.

Jesse fought and punch until the giant spider couldn't hold her anymore. But it didn't die.

Right as the spider went to jump on top of her again, and possibly bite her, someone grabbed the spider and threw it onto the ground.

Petra.

Jesse was close to hyperventilating, for she hadn't gotten stuck like this surrounded by mobs, by herself since she was a preteen.

The mobs were already backing away from the gleam of the iron pickaxe, but they would soon come back to kill them after their worry left.

"Come on. Let's get out of the open." Petra grabbed Jesse by the arm and all three ran away from the mobs.

On the way out, Jesse picked up a few pieces of string.

Jesse and Petra had escape the mobs, and evil creatures, making into a cave system that obviously Petra claimed as her own. As she was smart to line a part of the entrance of the cave with fences… no mobs go in, no mobs go out.

Jesse followed Petra into the cave, the awkward silence filling in between them.

"I want to show you something," Petra told Jesse out of the blue. It confused her, as she didn't know what brought this on.

Jesse and Reuben fell in step with each other as they followed Petra deeper into the cave.

"Not that this isn't a really cool, dimly-lit tunnel, but… uh," Jesse cleared her throat. There wasn't enough torches in her opinion. Good for growing mushrooms, terrible for calming her nerves. "How far away is this thing you wanna show me?"

"Careful, Jesse," Petra chuckled. "You don't want to get a reputation as a wimp." Jesse frowned and rolled her eyes.

"This isn't my first time in a cave, Petra." Jesse scowled. Sure, it wasn't her forte and it was more Axles scene but she had been in a cave before…

"Yeah, but have you ever seen…" Petra left her hanging as she reached behind her and pulled out a wither skull. "A wither skull?"

Jesses wide eyes was her answer, because she in fact had never seen a wither skull up close like that before.

"Woah," Jesse gasp.

"Fresh front the Nether." Petra boasted happily. "You're the first person Ive showed it to." _Thanks for the ego boost_. Jesse thought. "So you better appreciate this." _Or not_.

"Thats insane, Petra. You could've gotten yourself killed." Jesse never liked the Nether, to her it sound like 'never' as in 'never go there!' She admired the ones who had enough guts to go to the Nether. Even though she knew that was what Petra was known for, it never ceased to amaze her.

"Don't worry so much," Petra laughed. "I can handle myself." Jesse was sure she could, didn't mean it was any less horrifying. Petra turned and started to walk, forcing Jesse to follow. "There's this guy I'm meeting up with at Endercon. He's gonna trade me a diamond for it. Being the resident go-getter pays off every once in awhile. Literally."

Jesse was sure it was if it meant getting a diamond. That was an honor, and could set your up for life in specific town and cities around the map.

"The guy you got the skull for, what's his deal?" Jesse asked, a heavy feeling in her chest that told her something was off.

Petra had to think for a second.

"He's kind of strange, I guess. But, hey, everybody's got their thing."

"And you never thought to ask him, "hey what's with your whole… totally… normal… not at all weird… skull thing?" God she sound like a dork. Lukas' was sure to have a field day…

Jesse had to stop herself from grabbing her stomach from the weight that seemed to drop in it. She hadn't thought of Lukas all night, too worried about herself and Reuben to think about how her boyfriend was feeling.

She hoped that he wasn't worrying too much. Or followed her only to get bombarded with zombies and other mobs.

She was lost in her thoughts, she didn't even hear what Petra was telling her.

"... I earned that diamond." Petra's voice cut through her worry. Jesse made a 'hm.' Sound and to make it seem like she was listening she said, "wow."

"Wow, what?" Petra asked. Jesse looked at Reuben for help, because seriously, of course she asked what she meant.

"... In… a single day, you went to the Nether, you killed a wither skeleton…" _and let's be honest, probably more than one to get a skull_. "I mean… I did build a super-cool stature, but, still. Its pretty sweet being you, huh?" Petra gave her an odd look.

"You know… you could come with me." Petra went back into her walk, farther into the cave. "I mean, if you're too nervous…"

Again, Jesse hated the idea of the nether. So it was a bit of a shock that Petra would consider it.

"You want _me_ , to come with _you_?" Jesse asked to clarify she heard correctly.

"Consider if my charitable act for the day." Jesse clenched her jaw. Jesse didn't respond to that, having a debate to go or not.

"I'll consider it." Was all she said. The cave opened up and a small chest and crafting table was highlighted by a torch for Jesse to see. "You just keep a crafting table down here?" Goes to show how bad hr cave knowledge was.

"Comes in handy," Petra deadpanned. Giving a Jesse a clear, 'everyone does,' message. "Since that wooden sword of yours got busted…"

"You're giving me a new one?"Jesse exclaimed excitedly.

"Even better. You can make your own." Petra smiled. "One stick, plus two stone, equals one sword." Jesse rolled her eyes, because that was something Lukas would say just to annoy the living Nether out of her.

Jesse peaked inside the chest and rummaged around.

"Just grab what you need." Petra said over his shoulder.

"Thanks." Jesse nodded. "Hey, is all this stuff yours?" She didn't want a repeat of the Disaster of the 6th cave. (Long, boring story…)

"No, we're just stealing from whoever was dumb enough to leave this here." Jesse sighed at the sarcasm. "Of course it's mine."

"Just making sure." Jesse assured. "Jeez." Jesse pushed a few dirt blocks to find both cobblestone and a stick.

"Here we go," Jesse smiled. Quickly fixing herself a sword, and putting it away for later.

"See, isn't it better when you make it yourself?" Petra mocks before going back on their walk out of the cave. Jesse rolled her eyes, of course she knew that.

It was only a few minutes later when they came upon a bridge.

"Check it out, Endercon is all lit up." Petra pointed. Jesse looked past the trees, she expected too see the fancy lights of a rainbow beacon, but instead her eyes were met with spotlights being shine on the mini water ride. A long line forming behind the top of the ladder, and loud splashes of a person falling out of a minecart and hitting the water. It seemed like a lot of fun to be honest.

"Wow, it's the first time in a long time that The ocelots won." Jesse smiled sadly. "Too bad my team couldn't be the ones broke that streak though." Jesse sighed.

"Sorry Jesse," Petra told her sincerely. "But you've got to admit, that ride looks like a lot of fun." Jesse smiled.

"Yeah, I know," Jesse admired. "I just really wanted this to be the year we won and beat those Ocelots."

Petra frowned.

"You know, Lukas may be kind of arrogant…" Jesse had two separate thoughts when that part left her mouth. First, why does she assume its Lukas? She said, 'those Ocelots,' meaning all of them, and even if she said something like 'that jerk,' that doesn't mean she was talking about Lukas. If she did say 'that jerk' she would probably mean Adian.

The second thought was, " _You can say that again_." Because even though she deeply cared about Lukas, he was arrogant when it came to his building skills. Though he made up for it in kindness.

"Jesse," Petra warned, making it clear that what Jesse thought she said out loud. "Lukas has come through for me in tricky situations." I know, Jesse thought, but didn't say. "You might wanna get to know him, just in case."

 _Get to know him, seems easy enough_. Jesse thought sarcastically.

Honestly, Jesse knew she should've told Petra about her and Lukas, but the same anxiety came up when she opened her mouth to tell her. That she will instantly have bad blood between them and have Petra go off to tell Olivia and Axel; and have to pick between her friends and her boyfriend.

Jesse didn't catch the last part of Petra's speech.

"I'll keep that in mind," Jesse said with no emotion. Petra didn't look convinced but nodded.

"I'm just saying, if you run into him at Endercon, try talking to him."

"We'll see," Jesse replied with more feeling behind it, because at least that statement was a truthful one.

Petra nodded.

"C'mon, let's hurry." Jesse made a motion with her hand to go across the bridge. Petra and Jesse walked across, talking about Endercon and teasing each other, with Reuben oiking behind them.

Sstpssss, ssstpsstp…

Jesse look up and sighed, mostly annoyed by now about the creepers crawling towards them.

 _Oh freaking nether stuff course_.

Jesse turned around, not even surprised to see the Zombies.

"This doesn't look good," Petra noted. "Well, there is only one way off this bridge." Petra said something that Jesse didn't hear over her thinking, she looked over the side of the bridge.

"Alright, lets jump!" Jesse, Reuben and Petra all jumped over the side of the bridge. Jesse could hear the creepers exploding behind her, and it felt like a few years of endless screaming and adrenaline before Jesse hit the top of the water, belly first.

Jesse sank for a few seconds until the pain hit her hard enough to swim to the top, sputtering, "Burns, it burns!"

Petra emerged from the river.

"Don't you know? You dive into the water, you don't land on top of it." Petra scowled before swimming to shore. "Pull yourself together, and follow me."

Jesse grunted as she and Reuben followed the redhead to shore.

 **I'M LATE! I AM SUPPOSED TO UPDATE ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS, BUT I COULDN'T BE BOTHERED WITH WRITING… Yes, I wanted to write so bad but I couldn't make myself sit down and do it… I also have been really into AO3 recently… not writing on it or even reading the fanfiction in general, because I have a few issues with it, buts its the one fanfiction website with a lot of Coldflash stories. (Captain Cold [Leonard snart] and The Flash [Barry Allen] ship name) Obviously that's my ship, love WestAllen, but *shrug*, Coldflash is my true Flash OTP.**

 **BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT! (Unless you do… O_O)**

 **Again, sorry for my incompetence. I am sorry.**

 **Let's move on.**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **TheAmberShadow- Yeah, it was really late (not thats an excuse) and I notice that when I reread it that I misspelled routine. Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Going to the judges… l_l… sure, lets go with that. And yes, that really was lacking in the game, I agree. Someone else completely disagrees on whether I should save Aiden or not… so sad. O,_O,**

 **EmLee- MY GIRL! (Or guy?) YES, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH LUKESSE!**

 **Well, thats all I have for today. I hope you have all enjoyed, please excuse the errors. Your thoughts are always apprieciated,**

 **BYE!**

 **-Kayla.**


	5. Chapter 5

**HI!**

 **Thank you to, LOL, TheAmberShadow, The Sorrowful Deity, EmLee and Miragold123. You guys are amazing!**

 **reviews for GUEST at the bottom.**

 **POV: Lukas**

Lukas watched Aiden walk away from him, towards their build with a look of triumph on his face, and oh how it made his blood boil. In that moment, all he wanted to do was slap Aiden across the face.

He left a mental note to do just that later, as he forced his eyes away from Aiden and his build so he could look around for the judges. He stomped around, and asked a few people where they were.

He was pointed in the right direction, thanked them before walking away. He passed the people still cleaning up the lava, and people with chest collecting all the ash and dumping it in the chest, some were breaking the blocks from jesses build that hadn't burned down. It did not help his conscience.

Lukas crossed his arms and continued to head towards the area where the judges should be, which was towards the front. When he got there, and saw the judges, his heart stopped. Maya and Gill were already there, speaking to the judges, telling them something and all the judges did was nod along. Lukas knew what they were doing, trying to cover themselves, and quite possibly the build as well.

Maya was a nice girl, she was funny, sweet, sarcastic, over dramatic and could be very motherly. Gill wasn't too bright, but he was nice, silly, goofy, and very brotherly. Too bad they also had a tendency to not listen to their instincts and go with whatever Aiden said. That was what made them do this sort of thing, and it pissed Lukas off.

He walked up the judges anyway, pushed past Maya forcefully and tapped on one of their shoulders.

"Hey, my name is Lukas and I am in the building competition, may I speak to you about something?" Lukas pointed behind himself, hoping they got the hint he wanted to speak to them alone.

The judge, whose nametag said Nathanael, blinked in shock that he was here.

"Oh, yes, you are apart of the team building the rainbow beacon," Nathanael nodded, his face straight. "That's quite an impressive feat." The other two judges, Carol and Matthew, both nodded, both faces stern.

Lukas nodded at the praise but instead of going to his pride it went to his guilt.

Nathanael turned to Gill and Maya.

"He's your partner, correct?" He asked. They both nodded, strained smiles on their faces. Lukas could see the harsh looks they were giving him with the look.

"Yeah, I'm with them," Lukas nodded, giving them the same look. "Can I please speak to you, it's about the Lava Incident." Nathanael made a 'ah' face, and nodded.

"Then you shouldn't worry," he waved Lukas off. "Your friends have already explained the situation." Lukas jaw clenched shut. _Yes, 'friend_ ,' he thought bitterly.

"Yes, I can see that, but what happened w-" Maya groaned, cutting Lukas off a bit.

"Relax, Lukas! We already told them that someone bumped into one of the Stone blocks, knocking it out of the way." Maya set her hand on his shoulder in reassurance. She sighed like it was such a sad accident.

Lukas glowered at her and felt his fist tighten. Why did she have to follow Aiden example?

"Thats n-" Gill threw a hand over his other, cutting Lukas off a second time. Nathanael gave the three odd looks, and exchanged a glance with his compatriots.

"It's fine, sir," Matthew assured again for Nathanael. "We got the story, and luckily no one was hurt, that's all that matters." Lukas grew red, because his friends were never going to let him finish a sentence if he was going to say anything about Aiden doing the crime.

"But a build burned down! Shouldn't the guys team who knocked the block out of the way get disqualified!" Nathanael sighed.

"Normally, yes, but seeing as the person who did it was a spectator who ran off, that's not necessary… its quite sad, the build that burned down would have very much so been the one to beat." The judges said their thanks and quickly left with Lukas sputtering for a response. He was about to go after them but Maya and Gill held him back with enough force to leave a bruise.

"Lukas, what were you thinking! You could've ratted up out!" Maya hissed.

"I should have!" Lukas snapped back. "Aiden burned down a build, and now they don't even have a chance to win!" Maya and Gill both rolled their eyes.

"It was the order of the losers build." Gill huffed. "It doesn't matter, lets just go finish _our_ build." Gill and Maya hauled Lukas towards their build, away from the Judges.

Lukas was angry, and when his friends left him, they still watched him from every angle, and when he tried to talk to the judges, they would come to drag him away.

Lukas couldn't talk to the judges, his friends refused to let him. He got really close a few times, but overall it was pointless.

Lukas had given up a few minutes after the judges made the announcement that the competition would continue as normal and gave Gill and Maya's side of what happened, because apparently most people don't pay attention to the area around them, or were too scared to come forward and tell the truth.

Lukas watched at Maya, Gill and Aiden finished looking over the redstone and putting in the last few pieces of glass in place, while they switched on and off who watched Lukas. Lukas was at the bottom of the build and, according to his 'friends,' was acting like an ungrateful idiot.

He was not happy.

Lukas looked up to see his friends attention weren't on him, and saw his chance to talk to the judges… but at the same time, he'd have to be the fastest man alive to get to the judges without his friends coming in to drag him back.

Lukas looked around and stopped. A repeater, gleaming in the Suns light. Lukas looked up to check if his friends were watching him still, and quickly turned the repeater around, making it face the completely wrong way.

 _There_ , Lukas thought, wiping the dust off his hands and parts of his conscience clean.

Now all he needed to do was, A) put his friends in their place, B) slap Aiden (preferably twice) C) get on his hands and knees and beg his lovable girlfriend for forgiveness.

His day was made when his friends overlooked the part he sabotaged, and the lovely lighting of the sky in rainbow colors, did not happen. Instead the mini-roller coaster slide won, much to Lukas' joy.

Lukas was instantly grabbed, dragged into the forest, and yelled at by his friends, accused of sabotaging the build. He confessed, he tried to keep the conversation civilized, and to not yell. He spoke calmly, and softly, but he lost his temper when Aiden called Jesse 'the dumbest out of all the losers.' Aiden had the _nerve_ to be shocked and confused and a little hurt by the fact he was slapped in the face. But, Lukas was angry, done with them, and wanted nothing more than to slap Aiden again. But that would be mean.

He began to yell at the three instead. He said he was done with their attitudes, he was done with their lies, and if they couldn't clean up their act and stopped acting like spoiled children then he didn't think he could be around them anymore.

Gill, Maya and Aiden looked confused, and hurt, they didn't seem to know what to do. Lukas shook his head, and said he needed to calm down, get his head straight in a sense. He walked away, not sure if he wanted to speak to any of them again.

(...JESSE…)

The night was colder than cold after Jesse, Reuben and Petra climbed out of the river. Jesse shook worse than a leaf in fall and Petra was just barely better, all Reuben had to do was shake the water off, though he was still shaky.

They both chattered their teeth and silently agreed to never speak of this again.

Jesse was simply thankful that it wasn't a windy night to make their predicament worse. They walked through the woods, stopped at the thickest part of the woods to separate and ring out their clothes. They walked for over half an hour before they made it out of the treeline, and twenty minutes to walk along the tree line to find Endercon.

Petra kept cursing and complaining about how late she will for whatever deal she had with mystery man. Jesse listened tightly to every muttered complaint in hopes that she'll catch a name but she could not. Either her hearing was horrible or Petra just didn't say the name… she hoped it was the latter.

Anyway, they made to Endercon and Jesse was relieved... and her clothes were completely dry…

So as they stumbled their way in, bought tickets to the event and went through the entrance, Petra gripped Jesse shoulder.

"So when we're making the deal, I need you to let me do the talking." Petra told her. "I just don't want anything to screw this up. Or anyone." Jesse saw the logic, to a degree, but was still questioning why Petra was offering all this adventurous… _adventures_ , all of a sudden.

Maybe she was that expendable… or just that stupid to agree… or maybe she was just being paranoid and Petra just thought that they were friends enough to go on daring adventures together… no that couldn't be it...

"Should I be nervous about this?" Jesse questioned. She didn't know what to expect out of Petras mouth, she just knew that she would give her bluntest answer.

"Given your personality, your life experience, and everything else you've done to make it to this moment…" Petra hesitated to answer. "yes." Jesse was thoroughly insulted. True she could be whimpy… and a dork… and… okay, she saw her point.

"Notch Petra, that's blunt even for you." Jesse grumbled. All Petra did was shrug.

"I try…" They walked together for a few more steps when Axel and Olivia pushed past the final people in a crowd.

"Jesse!" Axel waved enthusiastically. Jesse smiled and waved back with just as much happiness. Olivia ran up to them, looking puzzled.

"And… Petra?" Olivia gawked. Jesse felt a deep blush and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Uhh, yeah, we ran into each other while I was looking for Reuben." She explained. Reuben oiked in agreement and drew attention to himself.

"Poor Reuben…" Olivia gasped, bending down to cup his little face. "what happened to his eye?" Jesse sighed, petting Reuben's head to confort him.

"We had a bit of a run in with some Zombies." She explained. Petra grunted in annoyance at being reminded of those stupid mindless beast. "They whacked him good enough to give him a bruise, but he held his own." Olivia nodded and started to mumble about buying a potion of healing on the way home, or something.

"What were you doing in the woods, Petra?" Axel questioned, surprisingly suspicious. Jesse gave him a questioning look because Petra practically lived in the woods, why wouldn't she be in there? But all she got was an equally confused look from Axel as her answer.

"Nothing." Petra shrugged. "Just drawn by the sound of Jesse's high-pitched screams." Jesse sighed, mentally keeping track of how many times Petra has intentionally insulted her that day.

She is too much like Lukas, good notch!

"I would've been spiderbait if she hadn't found me." Jesse finished, conveying the truth.

"Thanks for looking out for Jesse, Petra, you're a good friend." Olivia thanked. Petra nodded in all seriousness as she responded, "not a problem. Besides, I'll take any excuse to kick some mob butt." Jesse smiled at her friend's response.

Jesse tore herself away from the little bubble she had surround herself and her friends in and jumped at the large sound of a huge 'splash!'

Jesses' eyes went wide as she stared at the huge ride that was made just today. A thirty block tall roller coaster-slide that launched you straight into a swimming pool. It was winner of the building contest, and she could see why. There was also a large line going up the ladder to the top of the ride.

Sure she saw from far away earlier, but it was far more impressive from this angle.

"woah…" Jesse admired, taking hesitant steps up the tiny ride. "It's even cooler up close!" Olivia and Axel turned around to face the little ride as well.

They walked behind her, with Reuben and Petra close to Olivia.

"Oh, the ride." Axel pointed with a overly large smile. "Yeah, I wanted to get on it, but Olivia says it'll be better to get on it tomorrow." Olivia rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath.

"I have to admit," Olivia sighed. "I'm really glad that Lukas the Ocelots didn't win this year. But I wish we were the ones to break their streak, it'd be the ultimate revenge." Jesse had a mental image of Lukas pouting in a chair while she laughed at him like a maniac, just because she and her friends broke his precious winning streak.

The mental image brought a large wicked smile on her face.

Notch, she was a jerk.

"Well at least it's something." Axel gruffed. Jesse nodded, but didn't agree.

"What happened to The Ocelots build anyway? They looked like they were doing fine earlier." Petra asked Olivia. Olivia jumped, looking surprised that Petra asked. Even though Jesse was seconds away from asking the same question anyway.

"Oh... well, we didn't see but we heard from people that their build didn't work. I guess they messed up with wiring. Lucky us if our build didn't burn down." Olivia explained. Jesse took a looked back at her friends. She was very confused.

How. The. Nether. Was the possible! Aiden and Lukas are so smart and always made more than six checks on the redstone wiring before they finished. They barely ever missed a redstone mistake.

How the heck did _that_ happen?

She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Looks to me they got what's coming to them." Axel crossed his arms. Olivia hummed out of the corner of Jesses eye and the silence turned awkward. They all stood looking as people climbed into carts and sailed into the water for a few minutes.

"Hey, Jesse," Petra nudged Jesse in the side. "it's time to go see about that… _thing_." Jesse had to blink a few times to get the hint.

"Oh, right… the 'thing." She muttered under her breath, a little nervous.

"Subtle." Olivia acknowledged.

"Really?" Jesse perked up at the complement, completely forgetting the fact that even _if_ Olivia believed what she said, she just ruined it.

"As a punch to the face…" Jesse deflated at that. "Axel and I were gonna head into EnderCon anyway. See you in there?" Jesse nodded in agreement.

Axel perked up at the idea of going into Endercon.

"I heard somebody saying there's free cake by the map booth!" Axel told Olivia with a happy glint in his eyes. Jesse rolled her eyes, and waved as she watched them turn around and disappear into the crowd.

Jesse smiled at her friends and felt Petra tap her shoulder.

"Hurry… we're supposed to meet in the alley over there." Petra pointed into a dark alley between two stores.

Jesse felt herself pale, because it was more than _just_ a dark alley, it was a dark little crook between two stores, a hotel and a house. The roofs touched, blocking out the light, the alley was only a few blocks wide, and it was _long_ .

Too many bad things have happened between those buildings, things she'd rather not think about.

This had 'bad' written all over it.

So no, she does not know why she followed Petra into the alley, but she regretted it as soon as she realized there was no returning.

"Dark. Dark. Very dark in here." Jesse muttered, anxiety bubbling in her stomach.

"come one, Jesse, it's not even that dark!" Jesse could see Petra roll her eyes, and she couldn't even see her face.

"sorry, but this place doesn't have the best safety record" she hissed under her breath, whether Petra heard, she'll never know because her friend stopped at the little section that merged two alleys together. Her hands on her hips as she looked about.

"Well, thats weird. He said the dark, creepy alley close to the gates, but he's not here." Jesse got a little angry. "Maybe he's late." _Yes, maybe he's late_!

"Are you sure, _this_ is the ' _dark, creepy alley_ ' he meant?" Jesse asked, she still wanted to get out of there. Again, this specific alley is the equivalent of a swamp in the middle of a forest, thirty miles away from the closest town, there's always _something_ going on around there that is bad.

Oh the stories she could tell about how people went through this alley and wound up _dead_.

Petra hesitated to answer.

"... I was." Petra turned around quick as lightning. "Okay, new plan, you stay here, just in case this is the spot he meant, and I'll look around." Jesse took a breath.

"Something about this feels off to me." Jesse explained. Dangerous alley, weird meeting, a guy she's never met, a guy that wants a Wither Skull, a guy she doesn't know the name of… of course she'd think something's off!

"All of my secret deals fell off, that's why I usually keep them a secret."

 _Logic_! Jesse thought nervously.

A nervous habit that refused to leave her was the fact she went into sarcastic mode when stuff like _this_ happened.

"That is not helping." Jesse shook her head and all Petra did was sigh.

"I'll be back before you know it, and if he shows up while I'm gone just stall for me." Petra told her as she quickly left the dark alley without consulting Jesse this time.

Jesse stood there awkwardly for a few tenseful seconds. She looked around to the side, up and back down the way she came. She had to admit that for a place that was known for being the ideal place to take a _life_ it was very clean.

Jesse looked around some more and she took a few steps forward. The small little backway had a turn that led into the second alley, it was the section that connected them, and there stood a chest. It was small one, up against the wall. Jesse frowned and looked around for someone, because this chest wasn't supposed to be there.

She knew it was a bad idea to open the strange chest, but her curiosity didn't seem to care. She walked up to it and knelt down to examine the front for redstone dust.

She was not going to make the same mistake she did two years ago, when she went to visit her family in Oak Cits. Her older brother wanted to mess with her by replacing one of the chest in the room she was staying in with a trap that splashed a slowness potion on her. It did not help that Lukas was also there! And refused to talk about anything else for the rest of the trip!

 _Darn you, Jack_! She thought. Thankfully there was no redstone particles on the lid, but it didn't matter in the end...

"Uh-hum!" Because the sound of a gruff voice startled her up and away from the small chest with a short, "ah!"

A creepy looking guy stepped forward into the dull lighting of the alley, looking menacing and what she would image a _James Bond_ villain would like when introduced in each book.

Mystery man was a bit taller than her, but was older and his age showed. He had long black hair going down his back and a long beard reaching mid-torso. He wore a dark green jumpsuit and black boots with a large brown belt with a gold buckle. He had a long nose and a hundred stress-related wrinkles on his face, his dark eyes hard as stone and refused to show any emotion. The frown he wore was traced so deeply Jesse wondered if the man ever smiled, even a little.

But, she digressed, he did not look like a businessman with anything worth trading! Much like herself!

"And just who are you?" Mystery man asked Jesse. She gulped and fidgeted with pant pocket.

"Uhh… my name is Jesse," she introduced, she tried to say it braver than she felt. "I'm w-"

"I'm supposed to meet up with Petra," Mystery Man snapped. Jesse jumped back in surprise and felt everything in her stop dead in its track, even her train of thought. "not whatever you're supposed to be! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't walk out of here right now!" When Jesse's shock wore off, her eyes turned just as hard (if not harder) than Mystery Man. Her stomach boiled in anger, because this man wasn't patient enough to let her get through his name.

All she wanted to do was slap him.

At least when Aiden and company were being idiots they listened to what she and her friends had to say!

"...my name is Jesse, I'm with Petra. If you let me finish my sentence you would know that." _but instead you wasted five seconds of my life and cut off a sliver of my faith in humanity._ "And I'm going to guess you're the one who wanted a wither skull." Mystery Man looked ready to slap a hand onto her mouth like they do in horror plays.

"Not so loud, you idiot! Too many people know my business already" Mystery Man hissed at her. Jesse _really_ wanted to slap him.

"And that would be…?" Jesse deadpanned. Mystery _Jerk_ began to fumed, nostrils flaring up and fist tightening.

"Do you have the skull or not!" Jesse hoped Petra never came back for a few seconds, and was tempted into lying before she huffed out her reply, "No, I do not. Petra has it, and she's not here because _someone_ was late." Either the guy was one of those people who didn't understand any shape of sarcasm, even if it technically isn't sarcasm, or he chose to ignore the obvious insult, because all Mystery Man did was huff and frown deeper

"As long as she's bringing it, then I guess I can wait a little longer." He grumbled and crossed his arms. Jesse glared at him as they stood in tense silence for a few harsh minutes.

She could tell Ivor was about to say something when...

"Ivor!" The sound of Petra's loud voice made Jesse jump.

"Ahh, here she is…" Ivor seemed to sigh in relief, which Jesse found odd.

"Sorry I'm late, but…" Petra quickly apologized. Jesse wished she didn't, just to screw… Ivor?- over. "good things are worth waiting for."

"you have the skull." Ivor said quickly. He was ignoring Petras apology, and rushing the exchange. Jesse was slowly loosing more and more respect for the man in front for her… like she had any to begin way.

"I've got what you asked for." Petra confirmed. Jesse crossed her arms and lowered her gaze to the ground. She was angry at him, for so many reasons at this point she'd need a piece of paper to write them all down.

"That should be enough for you." Jesse muttered to herself, not caring if Ivor or Petra heard her. For all she cared Ivor could go screw himself.

Ivor, of course, heard and glowered at her like she was a child who called his father's girlfriend 'stupid.' He turned to Petra, who was giving her a similar, friendlier yet somehow harsher look than her customer.

"... you didn't mention an 'us' when we first met." Ivor deadpanned, showing no emotion and his stiff. He talked so formally, and straightforward that it felt even weirder then if he were to drop to the ground and started singing " _That's Rich_." "And I don't like surprises. If these are the sorts of people you associate with… maybe we should call the whole deal off." With how desperate this guy seemed to want that Wither Skull, Jesse doubted he would have called the deal off. But, sadly, she couldn't tell Petra that.

"My friend is fine. Right, Jesse? There's no problem here?" Petras eyes screamed about their deal from earlier that said Jesse wasn't supposed to speak during this important exchange. Jesse refused to blush at the look that radiated terror and evil that was rolling off Petra in waves.

Jesse 'locks her mouth' with a fake 'key' and 'throws it away.'

Petra seemed satisfied with the answer.

"see? Everything is fine." Petra confirmed for Ivor. The creepy man nodded back, eyes turning even harsher than they already were for some reason…

Jesse swore to Notch if this guy killed them she was going to haunt his corpse! Because not only would he have the police after him, he'd have; her mother, her father, her five siblings, Olivia, Axel, Lukas (good Notch save him if Lukas gets ahold of him) and… whoever Petra hangs out with.

"Proceed, then." Ivor made a motion with his hands that said, 'get on with it.'

Petra brought out the Wither Skull she showed Jesse earlier and handed it to him. Ivor scanned the Skull over, making sure that the Skull was real just like any other person… or so Jesse guessed. (She's never traded anything like this before.)

Ivor seemed pleased and nodded to Petra, confirming that he was satisfied.

"I'll take that diamond now." She responded to the nod. Jesse watched as the first hint of human emotions graced Ivors face.

It was _mirth_.

"Take it. You've earned it." He seemed to smirk. Jesse didn't like the tone, the look in his eyes, just about everything about Ivor gave her a chill. She didn't understand what he was up too.

Ivor nodded to the chest behind them, and Petra walked over to it. Petra kneeled down and opened the chest.

Jesse stepped next to the chest but kept her eyes on Ivor the whole time.

"Uhh, this isn't a diamond." Petra said. That caught Jesse attention and she looked down into the chest. Her blood began to boil at the sight of something blue… but not shiny.

"No, its lapis!" Petra spat. Petra turned around, to start yelling, but Ivor was gone. He was nowhere to be seen. "Of all the dirty, underhanded tricks to pull!" Jesse tightened her fist, wanting nothing more than to hit something.

Stealing, underhanded deals… that was more than unfair, it was _the_ worst crime you could do in her opinion.

"I told you something was off." Jesse grumbled under her breath. As childish as it was… she didn't care!

"Screw this! We're going after him!" Petra began to race out of the alley, turned a corner and down a side street with Jesse running close behind. Jesse caught up to her with ease. "I'm either getting that diamond, or I'm getting my skull back!" Petra told Jesse.

"Or we'll make him pay? Right? Right!" Jesse may have been… a tad blood thirty… in a metaphorical sense but still.

"Just come on!" Petra ran faster ahead of Jesse, leaving her almost int he dust if not for the fact Endercon was just around the corner, and that was where exactly Ivor disappeared to. Into the crowd without a trace, a crowd full of people in mask Notch damn it!

"Did you see him anywhere?" Petra asked when Jesse ran up to her. Jesse found herself growling like a wolf.

"We lost him!" Her eyes turned dark.

"Then we'll just have to find him again. GO!" Petra ran in one direction, past three groups of people and down the street. Jesse decided that despite the fact she wanted to kill Ivor, it would be best to take her time looking around then simply running around like a chicken jockey.

She looked skeptically at every single person she passed and anyone that came into her view.

She was so focused on the people around her that she almost fell when someone pushed her like she was a weed. This normally wouldn't bug her, annoy? yes, but not bug. However multiple people pushed past her at the exact same time. In the end it wasn't a wonder why.

"Gabriel! Gabriel!" People were shouting as the famous hero past. Jesse got a look at the people in the crowd, took a second to gawk at the amazingness that was Gabriel the Warrior, then kept walking. She did listen to the conversations along the way.

"Step aside please!"

"Just one question!"

"You'll have to wait till the keynote!"

"The Keynote is sold out!" That was disheartening, because she really wanted to meet Gabriel, but couldn't.

Jesse pushed past a few people that were hoping to see, to talk, to try to speak to Gabriel.

When she emerged from the crowd, the first thing she saw was Lukas. Leaning… or more like glowering against a booth. He seemed to be drowning himself in pity, and he had his arms crossed.

Jesse didn't stop to look around, and instead simply walked up to him. He lifted his head up and looked at Jesse when Reuben ran up to him and nudged his feet happily. Lukas scanned her and seemed relieved that she was still alive.

"'sup." Jesse said. Don't get it? You shouldn't. Long story or short story?

Short?

When Lukas met Jesse's Irish twin Jace for the first time, this was there start to every single conversation. As first it was more of a 'so your 'friends' with my sister' and a 'please don't kill me,' type of thing, but after the third time it was just to mess with each other. By making the conversation start off awkward, Jesse never got it, but she likes doing it because it annoys Lukas most of the time.

It's their little inside joke.

"'Sup?" Lukas nodded, face straight and tone saying 'I'm in a bad mood, choose words carefully.' Jesse didn't listened.

"Nothin', 'sup with you?" What prompted Jesse to say this, she'll never know. Maybe it was just to mess with him more, maybe it was just in case her friends were secretly watching from a distance, maybe she just wanted to say something safe with Lukas obviously in a bad mood, whatever it was… it was weird.

"Nothing, 'sup with you?" Lukas responded. He didn't seem to be paying attention to a Notch damn thing he said, and it simply made the conversation more awkward than it already was.

Lukas quickly realized how the conversation went and by the confused look on his face he didn't seem to get it either.

Jesse couldn't help but laugh while Lukas seemed to relax and lose some tension in his body. He cracks a thin smile.

"we… we sound like two oblivious teenagers talking to their crush!" Jesse laughed. Lukas smiled a little brighter, his eyes catching some the joy and turning playful

"You're the one who started it!" Lukas defended himself. Jesse slowed her laughter into a giggle.

"As a joke!" _She_ defended. Jesse stopped laughing, and felt some of her anger disappear. Lukas could always make her feel better, and he was just what she needed to calm down after the whole Ivor thing.

Whatever happened to Lukas must have been bad too because Lukas drew her into a strong, bone crushing hug. Not that she's complaining, just surprised.

Nonetheless, Jesse hugged him too, burying her nose into Lukas' jacket.

"I'm really happy you're here," Lukas muttered into her shoulder. Jesse nodded and they pulled away. She crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about the lose, I can't believe you lost because the build didn't work." The happy glint in his eyes turned more determined than anything else and he looked away. Lukas kicked the dirt, his eyes growing angry.

"about that…" Lukas gruffed. He didn't look guilty but he sounded like he was.

Jesse was confused, she had an idea, but it didn't add up to what she thought and what she was seeing.

"Lukas…?" Jesse questioned. Lukas sighed, but he still looked pissed off, and he also seemed to tell her not to question whatever he did, which meant she most likely will anyway.

"It may… or may not… have intentional…" Lukas huffed. His voice said 'end of conversation,' but he obviously knew what was coming because he didn't even flinch when Jesse yelled, "Lukas! Why would you sabotage your own build!" He huffed, sounding more annoyed with the question than annoyed with her.

"... huh, I was going to the judges but Maya and Gill were already talking to them, telling their side of the story! That someone just knocked into the stone and it moved out of the way! I tried to tell them anyway but all I kept getting interrupted by them! Then I was watched over like a wolf and I was the sheep in case I tried to be a 'ungrateful idiot' again! I had no choice!" He sounded angry, more than angry, he sound ready to go on a killing spree, but again, not towards her, but to someone who was not around to hear. At Aiden, she guessed.

It didn't make sense to her, though, he was sure to win! She didn't get why he would sabotage his own winning streak. His chance to meet Gabriel the Warrior. Maybe even his friendship.

Yeah, she guessed she could understand knowing it was something she would probably do if she was in his situation… but… he's not her! He's the type of person who will take anything he could get! Cheats, mess ups, or loopholes, that didn't mean he was a jerk, he was just willing to take luck when handed to him. why didn't he take this one? It seemed weird!

And yeah, Aiden did do it on purpose but… but… he didn't need to do the same thing to Aiden…

Why she was defending Aiden of all people she didn't know, but she could just accept that Lukas broke his own build.

"But you still could have won! It would have been an easy win!" Jesse defended what little logic she had.

"It's not fair that you had to deal with Aiden being an idiot!" Lukas muttered his teeth, mostly to himself and also sounding like a child.

"When did 'fair' come into the picture! Literally _nothing_ about this whole situation is 'fair!" Jesse pointed out, waving her hands around to emphasize each word. She was implying more than just the building competition, she was implying their relationship, their friends biases, the towns biases, _everything_.

It hit her then why Lukas sabotaging the build bothered her so much… she felt like he was giving up, on his friends, on their goal… it failed to seem right.

"I'd rather lose knowing I sabotaged the build than winning knowing my _team of 'friends'_ sabotaged yours!" Lukas put air quotes around 'friends,' and though she wished it didn't, it did confirm her earlier theory.

"... why did you put air quotes around 'friends." Jesse asked, just to solidify the laid out Iron bar molds. Lukas was silent. "Lukas…"

"I might have yelled at all of them…" Lukas breathed, finally sounding guilty about something he did, but his tone had an undertone of pride. "and slapped Aiden." Jesses eyes blew out because Lukas almost never resorted to violence.

"Lukas!" Jesse hissed through her teeth, trying to keep herself from yelling. SHe could already feel peoples gaze lingering on them and attention is not what they needed.

"I couldn't help it! I was done seeing them treat you and your friends like that! I'm so done with them, I can't stand the gossip, the bullying! I feel like an idiot just by letting this charade go on this long!" Lukas huffed, fist clenching and face turning red. He looked right in her eyes as he said, "They're good people, but I don't think I can be around them anymore."

"What did I tell you…" she tried to help him not give up on his friends but Lukas cut her off.

"I know… I know, don't give up on them. We've gotten this far, and so on so forth. But… I don't think I can handle seeing them hurt you anymore." He looked down at Reuben at his feet and brushed Reubens head. "Look what they did to Reuben already." He muttered sadly, grazing the bruise. Reuben winced back from Lukas' touch and oiked in pain.

Jesse slumped where she stood.

"I don't like it, at all, and I believe you can do it, Lukas. Just give them another shot, okay…" Lukas scoffed

"You're not the one with horrible friends." This time Jesse scoffed.

"Oh, please! I know you don't know him, but Axel can be _bad_ too!"

"Hmm…" Lukas hummed, he looked up at Jesse and sighed. He obviously didn't want to talk about it any longer, and she could understand.

Jesse was about to continue the conversation when Lukas turned a bit to look behind Jesse's head. "hey… is there a reason why Petra is staring at us."

Jesse turned to look as well, sure enough there was Petra staring them, she seemed both prideful and a little disheartened. She looked away from them when she saw they were looking at her and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Jesse couldn't believe she forgot about her earlier mission, about Petra, the wither skull and about creepy Ivor.

"Notch! I totally forgot!" Jesse shamed herself. Lukas turned his head, all anger, all guilt and just the whole conversation they had earlier forgotten for the time being. It at least made Jesse feel a little better.

"Forgot what?" Lukas asked. Jesse breathed and dropped her voice to a soft whisper.

"You didn't happen to see a creepy guy with long hair and beard roaming around, did you?" She asked.

"Jesse…" Lukas said in a stern warning voice, he didn't look very happy.

"I know, weird question, just answer it!" She hissed.

"I don't think so, _why_?" He stressed the word, asking silently if someone got hurt, and if it was anyone they knew.

"He kinda scammed Petra out of a diamond earlier." Lukas jumped more surprised than now then he ever was angry. He snorted, like the whole idea seemed ludicrous to him, and when Jesse thinks about it… it sort of was.

"Pfff, woah… everyone knows you don't mess with Petra… not if you know what's good for you, anyway." He grumbled as he thought about if he's seen anyone around fitting the description given. "I promise to keep an eye out, alright."

"Thanks, you're the best!" Jesse gave him a quick hug.

"So are you." He nodded. "And am I aloud to come to your place tonight? Just so we can talk more about… everything." Lukas looked like he needed it, like he still had a million things that needed to be said. Jesse nodded, not needing to think about the question

"yeah, that'll be perfect after the night I've had." Lukas froze.

"Do I want to know?" He asked. Jesse scoffed and shook her head.

"No, but I'll tell you tonight anyway."

"Joy to the map!" Lukas rolled his eyes. The sarcasm made Jesse feel better, after the whole tone of this short conversation being all over the place, this seemed like a fitting way to end it.

"... bye Lukas." She waved and began to walk off. She walked too fast and she was ways past the first people of a crowd when Lukas said, "Bye Jesse."

Jesse pushed past person after person, wiggling between crowd and booths until she reached the next street. It was less crowded because the booths around this part of the convention was more redstone shows. It gets more crowded at you move towards the food and games but for what its worth, this area was fun too.

Jesse, though, was quite surprised when she saw Axel at one of the redstone booths, but it made sense when she saw the chicken.

She had no idea how this thing was supposed to work, maybe Olivia would know, but not her. All she knew it was some sort of trap that made chickens fall through a hole in a glass roof… yup this was something Axel would find entertaining.

"Thought you could just wiggle right out of that trap! Didn't you! Well wiggle as much as you want! You are not goin' anywhere!" Axel was shouting at the chickens running around in the pen. Jesse pushed past two people next to Axel and tapped his shoulder

"Axel, listen up!" Axel moved his head to looked at her.

"Oh, hey Jesse," He smiled down at her. Jesse said a quick hello, before jumping right into why she was there.

"Any chance you've seen a creepy-looking beard-y guy anywhere?" Jesse waved around into the nearby crowds. Axel sighed, and looked down looking very sad.

"No, but Petra told me what happened. I'm keeping an eye out for him." Jesse blinked at the statement, because _yes, it was very obvious he was looking for Ivor the thief_.

The silence turned awkward as Axel came to terms with his statement.

"Okay!" He shouted, like he was admitting a crime that he refused to ;be blamed for. "So I got a little distracted!" Jesse rose an eyebrow.

"a little?" She deadpanned.

"Yes, a little!" Axel huffed. He looked up at the little hole in the glass top of the booth. "it's just this machine presses all my buttons, unnecessarily complicated, and mean to birds for no reason. It's just, when something like this calls, you gotta answer." Jesse sighed. _Of course this would entertain you_.

"I'm sorry Axel, but stop messing around! We need your help!" Jesse motioned around the large area that they needed to cover in a short amount of time. Axel put his hands up in the air.

"I was looking! I swear! I've just got a short attention span!" Jesse gave him another blank look, for that was an understandment and they both knew it.

"Alright! Alright! I'll look… after I watch one more chicken get owned." Axel looked up as another chicken began to make its way through the trap. Jesse sighed, not sure if she was disappointed or concerned.

"oh Axel." She breathed as she gave up, as long as he ended up looking, she guessed they just had to be a man down for a few minutes.

Again, for the millionth time that night, Jesse pushed past people and into a new crowd of people listening to music. She scanned the area for Ivor, and her eyes stopped at the back of a person with long black hair and green jumpsuit.

"Ha! I see you now weirdo!" She muttered as she began to make her way to Ivor.

 **YEAHHHHHHHHHH!  
**

 **DEATH TO ME! DEATH TO ME! DEATH TO ME!  
**

 **I don't know why I couldn't get this out earlier because as soon as I sat down and forced myself to write this I got FIVE THOUSAND of the words in one day, did the editing, and so on! And this chapter is over 7 thousands words. *sigh***

 **Oh well, sorry you guys I have to put up with my incompetence. But I really wanted to buckle down writing down This week specially, because I needed to get _something_ after the week I've had. Where I live, a kid almost got kidnapped, and a kid from _my school, someone my age (_ I'm in early high school) _someone I knew, sat across from in class, committed suicide the other day_. It was horribly despressing and I needed to just get this whole thing done. **

**it sucked and... good lord, its been a tough week.**

 **And please pray for my classmate.**

 **Anyway, feel free to leave your opinion. I promise to see you guys soon!**

 **bye!**

 **-Kayla**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi.**

 **Weee! I'm here again!**

 **Thank you to, NovaAurora10, The Amber shadow, S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101, Miragold123, ComronZtheXgamer.**

 **Responses to guest at bottom.**

Ivor was at the end of the street and Jesse was simply happy that the street was clear down the middle so she could easily get to the other side.

It was just her luck that halfway down the street she practically got ambushed by Aiden. He popped out of one of the side crowds and sneered at her.

"Well if it isn't Team Bad Luck. How's your stupid pig, I hear intense heat causes brain damage." Aiden hissed. Jesse scowled, more annoyed him than anything else.

She moved to the side to just pass him but every step she took, he did the same thing. It did not help him stay within her tolerance line.

Jesse huffed.

"I'm busy right now, Aiden," Jesse told him, sounding harsher than she probably meant it to. "So please, for the love of Notch, go away." She didn't even get her foot off the ground before Aiden grabbed her arm. Hard.

"Busy doing what?" Aiden snapped at her. "Corrupting one of my best friends?" Jesse blinked in shock at the sudden turn of tone and her body went stiff. She didn't care that Aiden was suspicious or at least seemed to be, she was more concerned over how Aiden was acting. His eyes were like ice, his grip like iron and his sneer was permanent. It looked demonizing.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," Aiden finally let Jesse go and she moved away from him. Notch, the look on his face was creepy. "I saw you and Lukas talking. I hope you're happy, because of you, Lukas hates me and my friends."

Jesse tightened her jaw. Inwardly she knew that reacting to his little insanity breakdown was a terrible idea, but she also couldn't help but get angry. He made it sound like Lukas just publicly shamed them all. She didn't agree with what Lukas did, she most likely never will. However, it will be a cold day in The Nether when she lets someone talk about her partner like that in any way.

"Why is it my fault that Lukas didn't want to cheat?" Jesse asked bitterly. She reached her hand out to gently stroked the top of Rubens' head to try and feel a bit safer.

Aiden turned red, his hands clenched and shook.

Never in her life as Jesse ever seen someone who looked so unstable, and she knew people who were the definition of unstable.

"You didn't deny that you turned Lukas into a traitor!" That grabbed a lot of people's attention, making Jesse turn red at the fact they attracted such a crowd. She turned redder when she noticed two security guards were looking their way.

So instead of responding, Jesse just pushed past Aiden harshly. Aiden shouted in protest, yelling that they weren't done 'just yet,' and a few people in the crowd began to whisper random things like, 'Blown up,' 'sabotage,' 'betrayal' and 'secret past.'

What any of this had to do with her and Aidens talk, she didn't know and she didn't want to know.

Only people that live in a small town where the most exciting thing that happens is whether person A from shop C gets together with Farmer B will understand the importance of gossip. Their argument was made for small towners and Jesse knew that.

She wouldn't even be surprised if the townspeople roped the Larger City folk into the game as well.

She looked up the street and felt her heart stop with what she saw. Where 'Ivor' once stood was a girl in a dark green jumper and long hair. She looked a lot like Ivor, just slap on a long beard and a few wrinkles and there wouldn't be a single difference. However, it was clearly not him.

She was basically chasing a genderbent doppelgänger.

Jesse shivered when she thought about what could've happened if she didn't get stopped by Aiden, or if the girl didn't turn around. She was close to making a bigger fool of herself than she already had.

Jesse sighed and went right past the girl in the green jumper.

"Where do you think The Creep is, Reuben?" Jesse asked her pig. She didn't hear an oik, not a single noise.

Jesse looked at both her sides and didn't see her little Piglet at her sides. Her eyes blew out and she looked around desperately.

"Reuben!" She yelled, she turned around, she looked back down the street she came from but there was no response. "Reuben!"

A few people looked her way and gave her weird glances before they went back to whispering.

Suddenly Jesse heard the most terrifying yet beautiful sound.

"SQUEAL! SQUEAL!" Jesse turned towards the sound. _Good Notch, what would Lukas do!_

 _He'd… he'd… shout, call him. Find him. Look everywhere, follow the sound of his squeals._

 _Well freaking duh! How pathetic are you?_

"Reuben!? Where'd you wander off to?!" Jesse knew the noise was close, but it was muffled. Like Reuben was stuck.

She walked down the street slowly in hopes she'll hear his squeals again.

"Get'cha pork chops here!" Was what she heard instead of Reubens squeals. Jesse felt her stomach clench at the thought of cooked pork.

She was by no means a vegetarian, and she was by no means against eating pork because even with Reuben, she still eats it. True she has to assure her piglet she would never eat or kill him, but… at the same time she couldn't just veer away from some of her favorite dishes, dishes she grew up eating. Reuben always seems to understand that. But she did not wish to think of pork now. It brought bad thoughts.

"Fresh off the bone!" Out of the corner of Jesse's eyes, she saw the butcher reach under the stand and pull out a pig. At first, she thought that was sick, killing the animal live in front of people, come on, he couldn't be any more professional. It didn't take her long to notice who the pig was though. Reuben. "Nothing sticks to your ribs like a juicy pork chop!"

Jesse gasped. She felt her feet run towards the stand and her mouth move but she also couldn't feel a thing.

"No! Don't you dare hurt him!" Jesse screamed. She almost ran into the stand but she caught herself.

The butcher looked at her with much disapproval; his ugly face twisted into an overly harsh glare.

"what's the big idea? I'm trying to run a business here." He pointed to the pig on his booth with the stone axe in his hand. His greasy mustache twitched as he glared at Jesse when she responded hysterically, "That's my pig! You kidnapped my pig!"

The butcher snorted.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, Chief. I found this pig wandering alone in the streets. Not the fattest pig I've ever seen but he should cook up real nice anyway." He smirked evilly as he looked the pig up and down.

Reuben squeal with fear and looked at Jesse pleadingly.

"Give him to me now!" Jesse yelled. She ignored the extra stares from people.

Notch, she was attracting everyone's eye today.

The butcher leaned closer to Jesse with one eye open, the other closed.

"You wouldn't be threatening me, would you?" He muttered, like he was telling her a secret.

Jesse thought screw it to the masses and leaned closer, under her breath she hissed, "So what if I am? I want my pig back!"

"I'm not interested in arguing with you!" The Butcher suddenly yelled. It was desperate, Jesse could tell and was way too loud for his own good.

She looked to the side and saw some guards glaring at her too.

"I might be amenable to some kind of trade…" The butcher said much quieter but it was obvious he was simply laying down some bait. "not that you look like you got much of value."

Jesse looked at the guards and felt her cheeks flush with anger.

First Aiden twice, then Ivor, now this donkey. Her night couldn't get any worse.

Jesse reached behind her back and pulled her sword out.

"All I've got is this sword." She threw it onto the stand, not caring if it broke or cracked.

Reuben had to sidestep to not get hit by the hilt.

The butcher picked it up with a sick glint on his face.

"Oh, that's very nice. With this, I could out my butchering time in half." He slapped Reuben off the table, making Jesse wish she threatened the Butcher with her sword instead. If only there weren't guards watching her. "Nice doing business with you." Jesse latched onto Reubens neck fat the way a mama Ocelot does with her baby, so he wouldn't go anywhere.

"Go to the Nether." She hissed. Her eyes dark with promise and tone twisted with truth. The Butcher gulped. "C'mon Reuben." She was must gentler when she acknowledged the pig but the edge was still there.

Jesse leads her friend away from the booth. When she was far away from the booth she finally let Reuben go. Reuben gave her a look of annoyance for grabbing his neck. "I'm sorry Reuben, but I had to." Jesse looked away with shame. "I was so busy trying to find that creepy guy. I didn't notice…" Reuben oiked his forgiveness and they walked together for a little bit.

Along the way Jesse found Olivia standing in the center of the street.

Jesse walked straight to her. Olivia looked at Jesse waiting for her to talk.

"Remember that thing I had to go do with Petra?" Jesse asked awkwardly. Olivia nodded. "Long story short, we met up with this guy, he cheated me and Petra on a deal, and now we're trying to track him down. You in?" Olivia grew a sickeningly sweet grin that said it all.

Olivia nodded.

"Oh, I'm in all right." Jesse grinned glad that Olivia was joining them. Jesse noticed Olivia look over her shoulder and turned around.

Petra and Axel were running up to them, both out of breath and angry looking.

"Any sign of him?" Petra asked, looking almost mad with want to know where the creep was. Jesse shrugged.

"I thought I saw him earlier. But it was just a false ala-" coincidently Jesse saw dark green clothes and black hair out of the corner of her eyes and snapped her head to the person sporting those details.

Past a wood fence, onto the bridge in front of the Keynote building was Ivor, snickering at them silently.

Jesses blood began to boil.

"Hold on, there he is!" All her friends snapped towards the man running away from them. He disappeared over the bend of the bridge. "looks like he's heading towards the hall." If Petra didn't grab her shoulder, she would have jumped the fence just so she could be over there to strangle Ivor as fast she could.

"We're going to have to get past that usher to follow him." Petra pointed to said guard, making Jesse curse under her breath.

She was pretty sure she had most of the guards eyes on her. Doing anything against the technical rules at this point would not only get her kicked out but her friends as well.

"Then let's go." Axel exclaimed, he pushed Jesse and Olivia a little so they would both run up to The Usher. Petra was in front with the rest fanned at her sides. Jesse was right next to Petra and had Reuben and Olivia behind her.

The Usher was just as tall and just as big as Axel, if not that, then he was bigger. He had a blue shirt and tan shorts, with long blond hair. He also had this stereotypical Valley feel to him.

He looked at the small group curiously, seeing how they ran up and smiled a little too innocently.

"Uhh, hi," Petra said kindly. The Usher raised his eyebrows at how sickeningly sweet she was being. "what would it take to get us inside tonight?" His serious expression broke into a large smile. He began to silently laugh to himself, like he found that completely hilarious.

"Uhh, tickets." The Usher threw his head back laughing.

"This might sound crazy," Jesse stepped in front of Petra to address The Usher. "but we're actually on an important mission." He still seemed to find it hilarious as he was still laughing

"I hope your mission came with tickets to the show," How the man sounded both joking and sincere Jesse will never know, but it was certainly a unique thing to be able to do. "'cause otherwise…" suddenly a chicken ran up to The Usher and began to peck some of the food crumbs at his feet. His eyes went wide and he shrunk in on himself to Jesse's size. He paled and began to shake. "chicken! Chicken! Chicken!"Jesse furrowed her eyebrows at how odd The Usher acted around the bird.

This guy was… afraid.

The chicken ran away at the guys shouts of fear.

"It's gone, you're totally fine, you're a totally cool dude…" The Usher muttered as he stood back up to his full height.

Axel, Olivia, Petra, Reuben and Jesse all turned around and slowly walked away from The Usher as he muttered to himself.

The four gathered around with Reuben looking at them in the center.

"We have to do something." Petra muttered to the others. The other three had to restrain themselves from looking at the gate and fence. Drawing suspicion wasn't a great idea.

"Like what? The show has been sold out for ages." Olivia pointed out to a few of the signs saying "KEYSTONE SOLD OUT," on them.

Axel side glanced the front gate and looked at the raised part of the floor that separated the street from the building by a stone step. He seemed to be trying to mentally measure the distance.

Jesse saw this but was nowhere near as fast as he was in fingering out the length by simply looking at it.

"I could bust right through, I just need a little wind-up room…" Axel said as he motioned to the booth straight across from the front gate. "There would be good."

Jesse always forgot just how smart Axel really was, because you don't really think about it when you see just plain Axel. Sometimes she forgets that Axel is a griefer at heart, and though most are hacks, they are very smart. Having to measure the distance of the 'attack,' having to set up Redstone, calculating blast from TNT. Measuring distance for Redstone...

"As great as that idea is," Jesse said while nodding with approval. Petra raised her eyes at Jesse's truthfulness and Olivia waited for her 'but.' "It won't work, because I've got Security watching me. We try anything that looks bad while they are looking and we'll be kicked out." Olivia's eye went wide, Petra scoffed and Axel raised his eyebrow and smiled a tad.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked for the information to be confirmed. Jesses sigh was all she needed.

"Why is Security looking at you, Jesse dear?" Axel teasing smile growing wider. Jesse rolled her eyes.

"Priorities guys, figure it out." Jesse answered. When they kept staring at her Jesse flushed. Even Petra seemed more interested in how she attracted security than her diamond now.

Jesse groaned under her breath.

"Aiden and I had a bit of a spat, nothing big, and then I got into this fight with the pork booth owner because he kidnapped and almost killed Reuben." The other three began to smile and snicker, just imagining Jesse and Aiden/some random dude getting into such an argument that it ended with Jesse getting (almost) into trouble.

Reuben snorted finding it serious, not funny.

"Alright, we need to refocus. How are we going to get past the usher?" The others stopped snickering and eyed each other for an answer. Petra looked around and she looked up at the chicken machine Redstone booth.

"We need a distraction." Petra nodded towards the machine with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And a lot of chickens running around might be perfect." Jesse smiled at the wicked idea.

"The Usher is afraid of chickens." Jesse pointed out and everyone else nodded, seeing this as well when The Usher began to shout loudly a chicken pecking at his feet. "What exactly would you guys say if I told you I wanna break this guys chicken machine to get The Usher out of the way?" Jesse asked rhetorically.

"I'd say you stole my idea." Petra teased smiling with another one of those sick mixtures of cruelty and innocence.

Jesse grinned the same look back.

"But you'd have to break the glass without getting caught by security, _Jesse_. How are you going to do that?" Olivia asked, stepping back and looking around more subtly. There were a lot of security guards around, some looking right at Jesse like they were waiting for her to do something against the rules.

Jesse ignored the guards and snapped her fingers for the three's attention.

"If we have to, we'll distract them but for right now, let's look around. There has to be something we can do." Olivia nodded and ran behind her straight towards the redstone booths, go figure. Axel smirked and ran in the direction of the more destructive booths. Petra gave Jesse a thumbs up (for a reason Jesse didn't understand) and bolted towards the closest weapons and trade booth.

Jesse stayed within the area, looking around, looking at the booths and trying to stay as low to the skyline as possible so the Security would go away quicker.

She didn't find anything, and she didn't think her scheme to get away from the guards was working. A few did leave her alone, but there were two guards still looking at her.

She simply stopped moving for a second and looked around because that's all she felt like she could do. All she saw was people eating, others chatting and people in lines. Well, there were two people between two booths but she'd rather not think about what she saw.

Reuben didn't seem to have any more luck on the ground. The only thing he found was a half eaten apple.

Jesse closed her eyes and closed them for a second. It was a trick Jace taught her, rest her eyes and open them anew. It worked so she wasn't going to question her older brothers logic.

When she opened them, everything looked clearer and brighter. She focused on the picture she saw, not the individual pieces. What caught her eye was a person jumping on a block of slime. Nothing special about it, but it was drawing her towards the guy.

She and Reuben made their way over to him and simply watched as he hopped up and down.

She had never seen a Slime before, she never went that far into a cave but she loved the feeling of Slime and the bounciness of Slime Balls. Slime blocks, however…

Someone owed her something for making her touch a block of sticky slime and the reason why she went flying into a lake when she was 8.

 _If I can get a Slime Block then one of us could reach the glass_ … The idea was simply stupid and dangerous… of course she wanted to try it out.

There was a booth that gave out slime next to the person jumping, he was probably the advertisement.

She was hoping for a quick exchange, to just get the block and go collect her friends… her hope dropped a few pegs when she saw it was the Ivor-look-alike manning the booth.

Reuben jumped up and set his front hooves on the edge of the counter.

"Hello, can I get one slime block please," Jesse asked politely. The Look-Alike frowned and eyed her with wary eyes. She didn't look very comfortable being around Jesse and she most definitely didn't trust her.

"You aren't here to start trouble are you?" Look-Alike questioned, her voice filled with so much distrust on any normal day Jesse would've been offended, but it was not a normal day. This was a day filled with almost getting killed, shady deals, getting yelled at in public, going mountains over her comfort zone and trying to find a thief, this was the definition of a 'not-normal' day!

"No," Jesse shook her head quickly. maybe a little too quickly as The Look-Alike narrowed her eyes and stiffened up a bit. "I promise, I just came here for a block of slime." Jesse said much slower in hopes to backup and gain a tiny bit more trust.

The booth owner didn't look convinced, but she seemed to stop caring as she explained, "We don't give out slim blocks here. Just slim balls. We've got a limited supply today and we're giving out 2 per customer. You could craft your own block if you collect enough slime." Jesses heart sank as she thought about her misfortune. This was just fantastic.

"Is there any chance I can get you to bend the rules a bit?" Jesse asked. The Look-Alike began to glower.

"None at all." Jesse turned to look at the Keynote. Look-alike saw this and she set her hands on either side of her booth. "Look, I have no idea what your doing or why you need a block of slime and I honestly don't care but if you want to keep pestering me about giving one to you, I will call the festival guards." Jesse was about to just leave to find something else. It was a shame she couldn't do anything about it.

But Axel yelling, "A round of slimeballs for everyone, please!" across the street with Petra and Olivia running up to her was her saving grace.

It put a smile on her face. The Look-Alike didn't look happy as she handed eight balls of goo over to each of them. In fact, she looked ready to lie about there being any at all.

In the end, it didn't matter, because they left without any more problems and Jesse personally never saw this girl again.

They were back at the Keynote entrance and Jesse was being given all the slimeballs when she noticed that she was short a single one.

"Wait, this is only eight slime balls!" She groaned silently. _This is why even numbers are horrible_. "we need one more to make a block." Petra clenched her jaw and growled a bit.

"Okay, we need to find another way to get some more slime, and quick." Petra muttered, setting her hands on her hips. She looked around a bit to see if she could see anyone instantly.

Olivia and Axel took a different approach.

"On it!" They both said together and ran off in the complete opposite directions.

Petra sighed, rolled her eyes like a child who was thought they finished cleaning their room but still had more to clean and turned on her heels to go find some more slime.

Jesse couldn't blame her. She wasn't in the mood to walk around again.

She set the slime in her inventory and began to stick close to the area like she did last time. It didn't take her long at all, not even a full minute to find another slimeball and in the perfect hands as well.

Lukas was leaning against a game booth as he stretched the sticky goo in between his figures and covered his palm in the slime.

She guessed he got it from a game. She'll have to ask later.

"Lukas, perfect timing!" Jesse called from where she was. She didn't really care if her friends heard. All it will do is come across as either sarcastic or just a person trying to be kind to them. The only person who might take it at true face value would be Petra and Jesse didn't think Petra was anywhere near them.

Jesse hated that.

Lukas turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. His eyes were bright with question and he rolled the slime back into its ball form.

Reuben ran up to Lukas and sniffed the slime. He looked like he wanted to bite it.

"I really need a favor from you right now." Jesse told him in a hushed voice. Lukas noticed the serious tone and nodded.

"Anything you need." Lukas said in the same hushed voice. Jesse held out her hand filled with slime out to him.

"I need slimeballs so we can catch the jerk that scammed Petra." Lukas raised his eyebrow at the downright ludicrous sentence that just left her mouth.

 _Wow, that sounded weird even in context_. Jesse thought. Lukas opened his mouth, most likely to ask but his eyes drifted behind her.

"Jesse, whatever you guys are doing, count me in." Lukas handed his slime over, putting it directly into her hand. He flashed her a small smile that made Jesse's smile back.

Lukas was so infectious, and she didn't really care that he let his hand stay in contact with hers for a second longer than needed.

He leaned back against the booth when Olivia and Axel came to a stop next to the two of them with Reuben still standing proudly at his feet. Petra snuck close to Jesse but also staying between her, Lukas and Reuben. It was as if she was afraid they'd break into a fistfight.

"Thank you." Jesse muttered gratefully, she knew full well that Lukas just wanted to make sure she didn't get in over her head, but she didn't care.

She was just glad they have another person that will be willing to kick Ivors butt.

Petra leaned closer to Jesse with a sly smirk on her face.

"Told you he was useful." She bragged, making Jesse roll her eyes. (She never said he wasn't after all.) Reuben whined, insulted for Lukas.

"Aw, man; this guy isn't actually cool, is he?" Axel complained. He wasn't even quiet about it. He might as well have shouted it in Lukas' ear.

Judging by how Lukas switched the weight on his feet, she guessed he wasn't very uncomfortable.

"AXEL!" Jesse hissed under her breath, her tone and face saying 'enough.' Reuben oiked in agreement.

"Remains to be seen." Olivia commented just like Axel. This time Jesse face palmed.

"OLIVIA!" Petra was the one to shout at Olivia for the unnecessary comment. Lukas turned a bit pink. He fiddled with his jacket zipper and cleared his throat.

"Despite that," Lukas said, brushing the comments off. Jesse was extremely relieved and proud of him. "I am really sorry about Aiden and the others." Again Lukas cleared his throat and whipped the palms of his hands on his jeans. "I don't know what they were thinking." Olivia narrowed her eyes a little more but she nodded like she was willing try to work things out.

Axel just narrowed his eyes.

"Well, maybe it's time you get your team under control." He snapped. Jesse felt a groan rise in her throat as she covered her face.

"No." She muttered to herself. She didn't need to see to know that Lukas must be losing his patience.

Jesse let her hands fall, ready to just ignore them. She shook her head walking around Lukas to the crafting table behind him. She began to place the slime in the slots.

"Hey, look, I'm trying my best to-" She heard Lukas say behind her. He sounded like he was trying to keep his peace.

 _Well this day can't get any worse_ , she thought for the hundredth time that day.

"To what? Sabotage us?" Axel accused. Reuben slammed his head into Axels leg in retaliation.

But for Jesse, she didn't see this and that was the last straw. Jesse turned around with a heavy glare.

"Axel!" Jesse snapped. Petra must've lost her cool as well.

"Lukas!" Petra stopped Lukas from making another comment that most likely would just made things worse. "That's enough. Both of you!"

"One more word like that out of either of you and I'll make sure my brother has no mercy next time he's over!" Jesse threatened them with Jacks pranks.

They both clamped their mouths shut. Lukas went as far as taking two steps back, closer to Jesse.

"Thank you…" Jesse turned back around putting the last two slimes balls into the last two slots with the awkward silence behind her. Jesse sighed and simply watched the slimeballs combined together into a slimy, green clear block. "One slime block!" Jesse praised. She saw the block begin to shake with a breeze and it was glowing in the light from being slightly wet.

"gross…" Jesse shivered. How can people like something even messier than plain slime she'll never understand.

"I'll take that." Olivia reached over her and took the block off the crafting table. She turned on her heel and looked above her.

Jesse stood to the side as Olivia judged the distance from Booth roof to the chicken machine.

"And put it… right there." Olivia set the block down and stepped back.

"So, how is this going to capture your thief?" Lukas motioned to the block on the ground.

Axel looked around at everyone as if to say, "Are we seriously including this guy." Jesse set a hand on Lukas' shoulder to steady him.

"The thief is in the Keynote, which we don't have tickets to. And we need to get past the usher." Jesse motioned her head towards the Usher. "One of us is going to climb onto this booth..." Jesse tapped the booth behind her. "Jump onto the block and break a pane of glass on top of the chicken machine. This will create a distraction and while everyone is trying to round up the chicks, we'll sneak right inside." Lukas was leaning away from her at the end of her little explanation.

Axel raised an eyebrow and had a small smirk on his face like he was hoping Lukas would turn around and refuse to help them further.

In the end, all Lukas did was say, "You have all lost your mind… so who's going onto the booth?"

Axel deflated.

"I think it should be Jesse, she's the one that got the slime." Olivia pointed out. Jesse looked around.

"As great as that is, guards are still watching." Jesse at this point just plain waved at one of them staring at her with narrowed eyes.

They raised an eyebrow and turned away but Jesse had a feeling if she turned around she'd see another guard staring at her.

"So have Lukas do it," Axel volunteered the other male. Lukas sighed angrily and motioned to Axel without actually looking at him.

"As much as I would love to help you guys out, I have guards on me as well." Lukas motioned behind him towards a bunch of people looking perfectly normal but they carried themselves with way too much authority and kept looking at the small group every so often. Specifically at Lukas.

"What is with you two dorks getting into trouble today!" Petra hissed. Reuben squealed with agreement, he ran around in a circle and glared up at them (Jesse and Lukas) both.

Axel simply smirked.

"Had to have gotten the slime somewhere." Lukas replied vaguely, setting a hand on top of Rubens' head. Jesse turned on her heel to face him.

"I beg your pardon?" Jesse asked looking Lukas up and down, completely confused how this had anything to do with anything.

"I thought you got the slime from your build." Petra muttered. Lukas turned pink.

"Not important. Point is I can't do it." Jesse gave him the eye, telling him that he will tell her later. He nodded lightly.

Petra eyed the two as if she found the way the two spoke to each other odd.

Petra shook her head.

"Alright then, you two lead the guards away a bit. Axel help me up!" Petra waited for Lukas, Jesse and Reuben to leave a little ways away with the guards eyes also following them like a wolf before Petra climbed on top.

The three made sure that when they stopped the others weren't in the direct line of sight of the security guards.

"So what did you do?" Jesse muttered to him. Lukas gave her a questioning look as if to say, 'why are you asking me now.' "Just answer the question. Please." Reuben rubbed his head against Lukas' leg to coax him into answering.

Lukas shook his head at Reuben and eyed the guards just as Petra lined herself up to run across the booth.

"I was in line for a game, a person threw the slimeball at me and the guards just thought there had been an escalating fight." Was Lukas' answer. Jesse looked for any hint he was lying or bending the truth, it didn't seem like it.

She was about to ask how exactly that warranted any sort of attention, but a loud sound of shattering glass forced her to look away.

The machine was leaking chickens like a canon, just one after another. People screamed and began to run away from not knowing what happened and the guards were looking everywhere in their own confusion.

"My poultry! My precious poultry!" The shop owner cried running around to try and catch the chickens that escaped.

"Keep your eyes closed!" The usher yelled, trying to calm the panicked people. All the while Petra, Olivia and Axel snuck past the crowd and ran over the bridge. Jesse and Lukas were running around the chaos trying to make their way to the entrance at just the right time. "They'll peck your eyes out!" A chicken jumped on top of The Usher, spooking him so much that he fell to the ground.

Jesse scooped Reuben up as they stumbled over the step and chased after Lukas who was already bolting past the gate. They could both hear The Ushers screams as they disappeared over the bend of the bridge.

Jesse set Reuben down again as soon as they caught up with the others. Petra took a deep breath and that's all, Axel was gasping, Olivia had a hand over her chest and Lukas was coughing.

When they all caught their breath they made their way over to The Keynote building. As soon as they were inside the first thing they saw was a small gathering of people in the back where the stage was, but it was nothing big.

Jesse looked at the people and didn't see Ivor anywhere.

"Where'd he go?" Petra asked motioning to the group of people. Jesse set her hands on her hip and continued to look around.

Ivor was not going to get away with this, over her dead body.

Lukas tapped her shoulder and motioned to a wooden door in the corner of the building. It was tucked away and could be easily missed even though you could clearly see it's there.

"There! Through that door." Jesse yelled pointing to the door. Subconsciously Jesse's hand went out to grab Lukas' shoulder to steady herself, or maybe she simply wanted his touch but it doesn't matter, it didn't last long.

They scanned the area for guards and security and they all rushed over to the door.

Jesse and her friends stood in a circle looking one last time for onlookers. No one seemed to be looking and it gave Jesse a sense of calm and relief.

"Hey, guys," Lukas asked for some attention. They all instantly gave it to him, through Axel was a bit more reluctant. "What do we do once we catch him?" Lukas asked a valid question. The others looked at each other for an answer, even Reuben didn't seem to know what to do. "There are a million ways to play this. But considering this isn't my fight, I'll follow your lead."

Petra and Jesse shared a look and they both nodded at each other.

"We 'politely' ask for what's ours." Jesse answered, using air quotes. Axel smirked and rubbed his hands together evilly. Olivia didn't seem as happy but she also didn't seem to mind either.

Lukas hummed his agreement.

"Oh, Notch, this should be fun." He muttered to himself just as Petra opened the door and ushered everyone inside.

They entered the new room that was completely made out of dull stone bricks with a really high ceiling. There was a dozen large book cases and the layout seemed sloppily put together.

They walked down a set of stone brick stairs and spread out, a bit to each take in the size of the room and the amount of books that lined each shelve.

"See anything?" Jesse asked the others after they were all past the first few bookcases. There was a quiet murmur of 'no's and 'not really's.

Jesse grunted not happy with the result of no one finding the Wither Skull instantly, she thought the place was creepy and wanted to get out of there. It probably didn't help she didn't know if she was glad or happy to find out that Ivor was missing.

"He must have gone out another way." Petra explained. Jesse highly doubted that and simply thought they missed him. They were out there trying to find a way in here for a little while.

"Anyone else wondering what all this is?" Olivia called out breaking the short silence. Jesse hand went out and thumbed the spine of each book.

She grabbed a random one and flipped through it. Wasn't very interesting, just stuff about enchanting swords.

"Looks like it used to be the basement, converted into a hideout." Jesse answered Olivia, setting the book back where she found it.

She looked behind her towards the entrance. The wood door couldn't be seen from her angle because the door was around a corner, so you wouldn't be able to see anyone enter or leave. She didn't know if that was an advantage or disadvantage.

"Weird place to have a hideout. There has to be dozens of people coming down here daily." Lukas commented on Jesse's guess of what the place was.

Jesse heard a few grunts and murmurs of agreement just as she turned a corner of a bookcase. She found Axel, Olivia and Petra all in the same row, looking at different cases.

"Wonder what his excuse was." Olivia said a bit loud so Lukas could hear. Jesse felt her pant leg being pulled and looked down to see Reuben trying to lead her somewhere. She followed the piglet to one of the shelves of the smaller bookcases where there was a potion bottle on top. She picked it up and examined it.

It was bright blue with white highlights. A potion of speed?

Clearly, she knew nothing about potions.

"And yet I bet you anything I'll find my wither skull here." Petra continued the previous conversation. Jesse took to cork off and smelled the inside.

"And if we find anything else cool to steal along the way… so be it, right?" Axel said with a hint of glee and excitement.

"Axel, that's not what we're here to do." Petra told him. Jesse felt someone next to her and steal the potion in her hands. When she turned her head it was just Petra examining it as well.

"I don't think stooping to his level will help us at all," Jesse agreed. Axel groaned, not agreeing with anything they said. "for all we know this guy could have some serious connections." Petra gave the potion back and Jesse corked it.

"Thank you." Petra told her. Jesse nodded setting the potion back. Olivia left the row and disappears behind another set of cases, just as Lukas turned a corner and saw Petra, Reuben, Jesse and Axel looking in the same area.

"You guys never let me have any fun." Axel complained.

"Apologies for not wanting to risk our lives anymore than we already are." Lukas replied dryly. Jesse and Petra sighed. Jesse tapped her thigh signally for Reuben to follow and began to make her way to Olivia.

"I just love how much you guys spit at each other like llamas." Jesse called over her shoulder as soon as she past Axel.

"Sorry." Both Axel and Lukas muttered under their breaths enough for Jesse to hear.

Jesse entered another row that lead nowhere. She turned right and went down the row towards a large chest. Petra entered the row right next to the chest and opened it before Jesse could.

"Oh, hello." Petra said pulling out a golden sword. Jesse crossed her arms and stopped just behind Petra. That was probably a bad idea sense Petra instantly turned around and almost cut her in half. She was able to duck but it didn't exactly make her feel any better. "Too heavy, and too soft." Petra told her as soon as she saw it was just Jesse.

Jesse shook her nerves off.

"But very shiny." Petra handed Jesse the sword and she looked at it a little closer.

"Yeah, I don't think this guy does much fighting. Hey, do you still have that one stone sword, right?" Petra asked closing the chest so she could sit on it. Jesse scoffed.

"Remember that butcher I said tried to kill Reuben?" Petra turned her head at Jesse's question.

"Yeah?" Jesse motioned her hand to little Reuben at Petras feet.

"Had to trade my sword to get Reuben back." Petra snorted, but Jesse could tell it was in disbelief not in amusement. Reuben oiked, rubbing his head against Petras foot.

"Jeez. Oh, well, I guess that was a pretty good cause." Petra patted Reuben head. Reuben squealed, sounding offended.

"You guess?" Jesse asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was," Petra corrected. "it was a pretty good cause." Jesse swung the sword to test it out herself. Petra was right, it was too heavy making the balance off and because it was out of gold it was too soft. Jesse personally never touched one before, but she now knew why these were called the worst swords on the map.

Jesse held the sword out to her, "Here." She said. Petra waved her hand.

"Nah, you keep it. Now that's two you owe me." Jesse smiled and set the sword in her inventory.

"I'll try to remember that. Thanks." Petra shrugged.

"You're welcome. Just don't lose that one." She warned. Jesse. It made her roll her eyes.

"I won't." Jesse assured. Reuben oiked and began to sniff the ground and followed the smell away from the other two. Jesse watched Reuben leave the area and went into a new part of the the basement.

Everyone was in this part of the basement. Axel was flipping through books and running his hand over potion bottles, Olivia was exploring a bookcase that was almost inside a wall. Lukas was on his knees overlooking over more books and potions.

Petra reached out and tapped Jesse on the shoulder to get her attention again.

"Before you leave," Petra warned. Jesse raised an eyebrow and nodded for Petra to continue. "I saw you and Lukas arguing with each other earlier, but you guys were all nice to each other five minutes ago. What's up with that?" Jesse felt her mouth go dry and rubbed the back of her neck.

Jesse didn't know how to answer at all. She knew there wasn't a way to answer truthfully without telling her the whole story and there was no way to lie without it being obvious. She could give a half truth but then Petra will be too suspicious.

Jesse looked back at Lukas and sighed.

"I honestly don't know if I'd answer you even if we were alone and it was under better circumstances, and this is _not_ the best place to talk about it… but ummm…" Jesse paused to give herself time to think a bit more. What can she say? Should she say anything? "it's just…" Petra narrowed her eyes and turned her head.

"Complicated?" Petra guessed motioning her hand for Jesse to get on with it.

"Hmm?"Jesse snapped out of her own head. It took her a second for her brain to catch up. "Oh, no. Well… yes it is but… not in… Lukas and I have had an understanding for a while that's all." Jesse sighed and rubbed her left eye.

She knew she was acting way too nervous, and that her half, vague truth wasn't going to satisfy Petra, but it was the best she could do with such little time to think.

"Just so you know," Petra hopped off the chest and kicked it back open. "I expect details on whatever the Nether that means after we get my wither skull." Petra turned back around and began to sort through the chest again, pulling out brewing stands and other junk.

Jesse bit her lip.

"We'll see." She muttered. Jesse followed Reuben into the clear section of the basement that only had one bookcase. It was an open room with counters, and experiments lining the walls. The only thing out of place was a freaky glowing, purple potion with magenta highlights. Even the cork in the bottle seemed to be a gold shaped nugget. It was eerily creepy.

She past the glowing potion, because she did not recognize the color and she was freaked out by it. She past Axel and Olivia and instead crossed the room to where Lukas was.

He was thumbing through a book with Reuben only a few blocks away, sniffing at the floor for something unseen.

"Find anything?" Jesse asked him, she leaned on the small bookcase with her elbow and watched Lukas skim the pages with lots of captions and pictures.

"Not a thing. Unless you want an instruction manual on How to Build Creepy Villain Lair Using Everyday Objects?" Lukas said flatly. Jesse did a mixture between a scoff and a snort that caused a bit of spit to go down the wrong windpipe.

Jesse coughed for a second and cleared her throat.

"Please tell me that's not actually a book." Jesse begged, her tone off because her throat was tightened up. Lukas clamped the book shut and handed the thin spinner book over to her.

"No, but it might as well be." Jesse turned the book so she could properly see the cover. It was a small red book with lots of writing of the front and pictures of stone, wood and redstone.

"How to build a secret Hideout." Jesse read aloud. "Build the perfect hideout using everyday , blah, blah, from Redstone to brewing… blah, blah blah." Jesse turned the book over and look at the credits before turning it back around. She opened it up and read a random page.

She instantly closed the book and shivered at some of the detailed pictures she saw. They weren't gory but they got the point across a bit too well.

 _Who the Nether green wooded a book on how to set up death traps for people_.

"Freaky, right?" Lukas asked, plucking the book out of Jesse's hand. She nodded.

"Freaky indeed." Jesse muttered, shifting the weight on her feet. She skimmed the area around her. Petra had a pile of junk at her side of stuff she found in the chest, Axel was dumping potion after potion into a cauldron. Olivia was pulling books out a little then put it back. And Reuben, of course, was stuffing his nose into the ground.

"... everything alright?" Lukas asked, he rose from his spot and leaned on the bookcase. Jesse blew a sigh through her teeth and moved a pixel of hair out of her face.

"Yeah, just that Petra is suspicious of our… relationship." Jesse motioned to the two quickly. Lukas made an 'o' with his mouth, He brought his hand up and scratched his hair.

"In what way?" Jesse reached over and swatted his hand away from messing up his own hair. Lukas waved her hand away from his head and glared at her and went back to messing with his hair. Jesse shook her head at him

"Remember she saw us arguing? Then we were nice and helpful towards each other five minutes ago? Thought it was weird." Jesse explained, Lukas nodded. He set his hand back down, on top of Jesses.

"What did you tell her?" Lukas' voice had dropped to just a whisper so the others wouldn't hear. Jesse felt her mouth clamp shut and birds began to sing in her stomach.

She cleared her throat, dropping her voice to a whisper as well.

"I said we've had an understanding for a while and that's all. But she does want details." Lukas eyed Petra in the corner, still pulling out item after item. Ivor didn't seem to have many chest to keep everything organized. "What do you think?"

Lukas shrugged.

"I would have just told her." He replied nonchalantly. Jesse blinked in shock and removed her hand.

"What? Why?" She asked, her voice sounding admittedly desperate.

"We've been through this, Jesse," Lukas hissed bitterly. But it sounded more annoyed and bitter towards everyone _but_ Jesse. "I'm done dealing with Aiden."

"... but-" Jesse was instantly caught off by Lukas instantly.

"I know you're opinions on it," Lukas rushed out. "and I'm willing to still wait so I can gain your friends trust, but I'm done." Jesse shook her head.

"They're good people Lukas-" He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Good people with horrible philosophies." He groaned like he was upset Jesse wasn't getting it.

Jesse clamped her mouth tight and switched the weight on her feet back and forth. She huffed and licked the roof of her mouth.

"Do you remember that villain from that one book that was only a villain because he wanted his daughter back?" Jesse asked. She couldn't remember the title, but she will always remember how great the villain was. "And yet he was one of the kindest people on earth?" Lukas opened and closed her mouth again and again.

"This doesn't apply, Jesse, you know that." Was his excuse. Jesse covered her eyes, she knew that this wasn't going to resolve anytime soon, and didn't want this argument to draw any more questions.

"You know what, we'll talk about this later, what are we going to do with Petra?" Jesse asked. Lukas looked at Petra who was at this point tipping the chest over and dumping everything out.

"You can just invite her over tonight and we can tell her." Lukas shrugged, he didn't have a complete answer but Jesse wish he did.

"Lukas-" She warned. The whole idea didn't seem right. Lukas motioned to Petra, again he looked annoyed but still… not at her.

"Come on, Jesse, she doesn't even have anything to do with this." Jesse let her face fall and covered her mouth. She sighed through her nose

"You think she can keep a secret." She asked over her hand. Lukas gave her a 'really' look.

"She's Petra." He answered flatly. Jesses head twitched.

"Fair point." She muttered, setting her hand back on the bookcase. Their silence was welcomed, and a bit comforting that they couldn't totally get sucked into a disagreement so its a problem. It was what assured them they could figure things out.

"Hey, Jesse! Come over here!" Axels booming voice made Jesse jump and go wide eyed like a cow seeing an axe.

She looked across the room at Axel waving his hand gleefully for her to come over. His eyes were twinkling and he didn't seem to mind Lukas for once.

"I better go see what Axel wants. Can you make sure Reuben doesn't wander off?" Jesse asked as she pushed off the shelf. Lukas looked at Reuben a few blocks away and smiled.

"Of course I'll watch Reuben." His voice was full of fondness for the little pig. Jesse was extremely grateful towards Lukas… more than usual that is.

"Jesse!" Axel whined. Olivia even threw him a glare and Petra threw a book at him.

"Be right there!" Jesse yelled at him. She shook her head and dusted herself off for the simple fact she wanted nothing more than to stall.

Lukas rolled his eyes and kneeled down.

"Anyway, you know where to find me." Lukas went back to looking through books for anything helpful. Jesse jogged across the room over to where Axel was calling her. Axel was kneeling on the floor as he stared wide eyed at the glowing potion on the pedestal.

Jesse did not have a good feeling about this.

"What is it, Axel?" Jesse questioned. She stopped a block away from the potion.

"Look at _this_!" Axel spread his hands out around the potion with amazed glee. Jesse made a face and crossed her arms.

"A glowing potion?" Jesse said hesitantly. "That's peculiar." Axel ignored Jesse and set his hands on the ledge of the stone pedestal.

"You're not gonna believe me," Axel gleamed. "But I swear I had a dream about this. Okay, potion. I know this is a big step, but I would be... honored if you came home with me." Jesse jumped back and she grew pale.

"Axel, have you lost it?!" Jesse did a mixture between a whisper and a yell. The only person who heard was Petra and she just snickered. "It's a glowing purple-"

"I think it's magenta." Her friend corrected her. Jesse paused to think about that.

"Purple? Magenta? Pink?" She continued. "Doesn't matter, the point it's a glowing, odd colored potion. How are we supposed to know this thing won't kill us?" Axel waved her logic off.

"I'm sure there are experts that will know." Axel snatched the potion off the stone block and greedily tucked into his inventory.

"Either way," Jesse stressed. "there is no possibility that he won't notice his fancy potion is missing." Axel stood back up and rolled his eyes.

"Ahh, relax Jesse," He brushed her off and looked across the shelves. "a good thief always covers his tracks." Axel grinned and went over to the corner and picked up a light pinkish red potion and set it were the glowing purple potion used to sit. "Fixed it." Axel bragged. Jesse scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, the perfect crime." She pointed at Axel warningly. "If that thing kills you I am not going to your funeral."

"Whatever you say, Jess." He shrugged and turned around to search through the shelves once again.

Jesse had the worst feeling of the night about this. She knew she wasn't going to get through Axel's big head, and… she was hoping that the potion wasn't too important. Key word 'hoping.'

Jesse was going to go look in her own corner to begin her own search but Olivia quietly called her name over her shoulder. Jesse stood next to Olivia and watched as she pulling out a book one after another.

Olivia sighed and stepped back so she and Jesse were shoulder to shoulder.

"This bookcase looks really out of place, don't you think?" Olivia pointed out. Jesse frowned feeling extremely confused. She didn't think it looked out of place, there was literally a few hundred book shelves everywhere.

"What makes you say that?" Jesse asked. Olivia turned her head side to side in thought.

"Well the others are kind of scattered around like a library themed maze." Olivia pointed her thumb behind her. "But this one is kind of inside the wall and up on a step. It also seems like all the less impressive books are here." Olivia stepped forward and shook the case to see if there was anything behind it, but it stiff as diamond.

"Less impressive?" Jesse asked. Olivia huffed and took a small step back. She ran her finger over the spines and began to pull out a few books.

"Yeah. He doesn't seem to slouch when it comes to enchanting, it's all pretty advanced stuff. But on this shelf it's all how to books for amateurs and even a few kids books." Olivia handed the books she pulled out to Jesse and she looked them over and she was right, this was stuff even Jesse knew and she had trouble figuring if the blue potion from before was an actual speed potion.

"Maybe it's a secret door." Jesse guessed. Olivia hummed and took the books back to put away.

"maybe." She mused. "That would explain a lot." Jesse set a hand on her hip.

"I'll start looking for a lever or button," Jesse waved her hand in a circle. "while you can see if there really is any redstone around here." Olivia nodded and gave her a thumbs up.

"Sounds like a plan." Olivia nodded and continued her search for anything that could lead to a secret path or room.

And so, Jesse's small search began, she started in the obvious places, running her hands over the empty walls for a hidden button, and simply scanning the room. It wasn't till she decided to look in the more cluttered part of the area that she found what she was looking for. It was in the corner where everything was either stone or bookcase and shelves, so even though she was kicking herself for not seeing it, no one else could blame her either. It was a lever, the stone melting into the wall and the handle going along beautifully with the shelves around it.

Jesse set her hand on top of the lever.

"Olivia, you might want to watch out." Jesse warned before pulling it hard. Olivia stepped back and neither were surprised when the bookcase began to fall into the floor to reveal a secret room. It was small and only a few blocks long but that didn't seem to be the purpose of the miniscule room. The only thing it housed was a half a sculpture similar to what you have to build for an Iron Golem, but instead of iron blocks it was made out of a weird mixture of dirt and something else, and a glowing, multicolored block in the very center; it had no head. There was also a large chest but that was the least captivating thing about the whole thing.

Jesse stopped right where the bookcase once was and gawked at the small room.

Lukas, Axel and Reuben all abandon their own activities and made their way to Olivia and Jess.

"What the hell is all this stuff?" Jesse squeaked, her voice abnormally high for her, but that was normal for her when she feels exasperated.

"That's Soul Sand, it was everywhere in The Nether." Petra explained what the brown-black-dirt block thing was.

Well that explains why she doesn't know what it is, she's never been to the Nether.

However, the flashing block was about as strange as blocks went.

"What about that block in the middle." Lukas asked. Everyone turned to Petra for an answer but she shrugged. Then everyone looked at Olivia. Olivia bit her lip at the attention. She walked up the steps towards the sculpture to get a better look. In the end she shrugged too.

"I've never seen one of these before, I wonder if I just take a closer look…" Olivia looked ready to take the block apart pixel by pixel just to see what it was made out of. She reached her hand out and let it hover the front of the block. "Do you feel that? It's almost… pulsing." That struck a chord in Jesse and immediately told her, "bad, get away."

"No we can't, Olivia, because we aren't touching it and I would advice we step away from it." Jesse carefully reached out and gently made Olivia take a step away from the block.

"How is it glowing like that?" Axel asked.

"No idea, but I have a feeling we don't want to find out." Jesse answered quickly. Her heart was pounding and her stomach felt weird, she just knew whatever that thing was was more dangerous than The Glowing Potion ever way.

"Come on, Jesse, for all we know this thing could be totally safe." Olivia complained, but it did not matter to Jesse in the slightest.

"And for all we know this thing could be the most dangerous block on the map." Jesse snapped, making Olivia take another step back. Olivia deflated. She seemed upset.

"I was just curious." she muttered. Lukas grabbed her shoulder to help keep her their just when Jesse let go.

Petra crossed her arms, she didn't seem to care or seemed interested.

"It shouldn't matter, we came here for my wither skull, not to touch something that is probably dangerous." Petra agreed with Jesse. Axel and Olivia reluctantly agreed while Jesse and Lukas seemed relieved that someone agreed with them.

Jesse took a step back and almost toppled over the chest just about everyone forgot was there…. Okay, she _did_ fall over the chest that _she_ forgot was there but who cares. She didn't and refused to acknowledge Lukas' and Reuben's howls of laughter that followed before she somehow managed to open the chest. Jesse grew red and thanked Axel when he punched Lukas' shoulder. Lukas didn't seem to mind the forming bruise as he just kept laughing and even got Petra to join in.

Jesse waited for the laughter to die down and kicked Lukas and Petra in the leg then flicked reubens ear for laughing at her before crawling over to the open chest to peak inside. She had to blink her eyes multiple times to understand what she was looking at.

"So, good news, weird news." Jesse motioned the other to look inside with her. Lukas whipped his eyes of tears and leaned over her shoulder to see. Petra rubbed her face to get rid of the redness and looked inside as well. Axel, Reuben and Olivia soon followed.

"The hell?" Petra looked scandalized and pissed at the same time as she soon as she saw the not one, or two but three wither skulls collecting dust in the chest. "Why'd I risk my neck for that skull if he's got two of them already? He was in such a hurry to get it too." Lukas stood to his full height along with everyone else but Jesse.

She shut the dang chest before she stood up.

"Guys, think about it," Lukas said. He pointed at the chest then the sculpture. "three wither skulls, soul sand? It's the recipe for a wither." Petra and Axel both paled, Olivia simply went slack jawed while Jesse had to wrack her brain to remember what a _Wither_ was. There was wither skeletons, who dropped wither skulls which created a… Wither… boss.

She really needed Axel, Olivia and Lukas to teach her how to life again.

"A wither? That's…" Jesse said slowly so she knew what she was referring was correct. Luckily Lukas cut her off to set her brain straight again.

"One of the worst monsters there is. There's even evidence they are stronger than The Ender Dragon." Lukas confirmed. Olivia covered her mouth, Petra began to pace but Axel just looked doubtful.

"Seriously?" Axel deadpanned, he didn't believe Lukas.

"Yes." Lukas sighed. Jesse decided to just ignore the boy's bickering. She slammed her hand on top of the chest, it caught everyone off guard.

" _We came down here to find the skull._ " Jesse stressed each word, so it was obvious what the hidden message was underneath. "Well, we found it." Jesse lazily motioned to the chest, letting her arm go limp at her side.

"Maybe we should just grab it and get out of here, while we still can." Petra offered the first idea.

"And just leave the ingredients for a Wither in the basement of building that's in the center of town?" Axel shook his head. "I say we grab all three skull and maybe even the Soul Sand." Was his idea.

Jesse was going back and forth with Petra and Axels idea.

"We could just call the Security Guards and have the authorities handle it." Olivia's was by far in Jesse's opinion the best. Ivor will get his comeuppance, no stealing and no way of Ivor somehow getting a fourth Wither Skull to spawn The Wither.

"Or we…" Axel was about to relate his idea when there was a loud sound of a door opening and shutting. Jesse went rigid and her hands clamped down on her sides. Axel was still going to tell his idea, luckily Lukas cut him off.

"Shh! Listen…" he hissed quietly. Jesse heard footsteps. So did the others.

"Scatter!" Petra pushed a few people to get a move on and so she could get past to a hiding spot faster. Jesse rushed over to the corner and pushed the lever back up. The rest all scrambled to find a proper spot where Ivor wouldn't see any of them.

Reuben somehow managed to climb onto a shelf with potions on it and hid there. Lukas was cowering inside the chest Petra cleared out. Petra was stiff against one case in a secluded part of the library. Axel was shoved between a bookcase and a wood block. Olivia was behind a bookcase and Jesse was between a chest and bookshelf.

"Don't you recognize me?!" Jesse squirmed at the sound of Ivors high and growly voice. "Or… wait… 'Surprise to see me?!' No, that's not good… 'Thought you were rid of me, didn't you?' That's better." Ivor mused. He past Petra, then Lukas, then Axel and Reuben. Jesse and Olivia were for the most part of his way and had no chance of being seen… that is until Olivia peaked over the shelf and set arms over the side to get a better look. She accidentally knocked over a certain Speed potion by accident.

What luck.

Ivor turned around, his guard up and his fist clenched. Jesse would have brought out a weapon or sword if she heard an intruder but hey, this guy must've been even more pathetic than she was at life.

"What was that?" Ivor snapped, inching closer to the noise. "Who's there?" Jesse peaked around the corner. She saw a clip of Olivias sleeve before it disappeared around the corner. She knew it was stupid to wish Ivor didn't see it.

Jesse heart pounded and her palms began to sweat, but she didn't know what to do.

Ivor was only a few pixels away from Olivia when Jesse jumped out from her hiding spot and shouted, "Hey, you!" Ivor spun around and raised his fist. When he saw Jesse had no weapon, he lowered them and simply began to shake with anger.

"What are you doing here?!" Ivor wailed. He stopped to ponder his predicament and stumbled back a bit. "What did you see?" Petra walked out of the shadows of her hiding spot and pointed at Ivor with a menacing finger

"'Thought _you_ were rid of _us,_ didn't you?'" Petra mocked, fiddling with the potential weapons in her inventory.

"You two? Did you follow me here?" Ivor switched his view from Petra to Jesse multiple times.

"We couldn't let you get away with screwing us over." Petra smiled wickedly, like she was ready to chop a person's head off with a stick. Ivor tripped over his feet, but he was lucky to not fall down. Olivia creeped out and Axel jumped out of his spot. Lukas lifted up the chest lid and stepped out.

Ivor looked at how he was outnumbered, he growled, "And what, pray tell, are you going to do about it? I have what I want, and you have exactly what you earned." Ivor pointed at the group. "Now get out before I put you out!" He threatened loudly.

Jesse scoffed and brushed some hair out of her face.

"We know what you're doing down here." Jesse said hollowly, her voice low and full of harshness. Ivor stumbled again. Jesse pointed towards the hidden room. "Soul sand and three Wither Skulls? You're building a Wither!" Ivor skewed his face into one of shock, confusion and horror all at the same time. Ivor breathed heavily, his eyes grew into an angry fire.

The fire died and his face turned to rock, it was expressionless.

"Huh, smarter than you look." Ivor deadpanned. Jesse turned red, she was both embarrassed and angry.

"Back off." Lukas snapped, taking a single step forward. Jesse was thankful.

Axel growled and pushed past both Lukas and Jesse. He towered over Ivor by by a whole block, and it made Ivor cower just a bit.

"Nobody talks to my friends like that!" Axel exclaimed. "Now shut your mouth." He went to push Ivor to the ground but he ducked under Axels arm and ran past the rest.

"Enough!" He yelled over his shoulder. Petra and Olivia tried to grab him as he ran past them, but he evaded them almost as if he could predict every move they made. "You've wasted too much of my time already!" Axel looked ready to punch a person. He turned around, grabbed Jesse and Olivia so they could hurry up towards wherever Ivor was heading faster.

Lukas picked up Reuben and almost fell as he rushed after the others.

They made their way back to the entrance of the basement. It was strange being back there, because something felt wrong about it, maybe that was because Ivor was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" Petra asked.

"If you won't leave of your own volition," Ivor voice echoed through the room. They all spun in the direction of Ivors voice. There he was, standing over an iron block sculpture in the shape of an Iron Golem without the head. Jesse let out a shaky breath when Ivor raised a pumpkin over his head. I'll happily remove you myself!" Petra, Lukas and Jesse all shouted their own version of 'no!' But it was too late. Ivor set the pumpkin down on top of the build.

There was a puff of white smoke and a small flash of light to reveal the monster that Ivor created. Iron golems are typically calm creatures that serve only to protect villagers, but they could be created by people to follow orders. Sometimes it was a find idea, other times it was illegal. "Show our friends the door, will you?" Ivor smirked, waved then turned on his heel.

The Golem grunted, his bulky frame dragged across the stone, and the vines and cracks that decorated his chest pulsed in the dim light.

Jesse knew they were doomed.

There was a chorus of cowardly screams just as the golem swung his first hit, towards Jesse of course. Jesse ducked easily sense Golems are extremely slow. Jesse's friends ran off away from the typically friendly mob so they could get out of his reach.

The Golem went to swing again, and Jesse ducked again, this time she ran past the mob, grabbed Reuben on the way out and followed her friends up the steps and out the door.

What she didn't realize was someone stuck behind so he could lure The Iron Golem away from the exit door.

Jesse slammed the door shut and leaned against the bottom, holding her pig close to her chest. She was silently hoping that this would keep The Mob inside the basement.

She gasped for breath and tried to hear what people where saying over all the blood beating inside her hearts.

After a second she could hear again.

"Please, please!" If this was a normal day, Jesse would be fangirly over Gabriel's deep set voice, but that was the least interesting thing she saw all day. "Thank you! Are. you. With me?!" Gabriel yelled to the crowd. Jesse didn't care.

"Everybody okay?" She stuttered, she didn't bother to look, she just kept her head trained to the floor. She hugged Reuben closer.

"I think so." Petra answered, she sounded the less tired, however she seemed the most stressed.

"You sure no one's hurt?" Jesse questioned, closing her eyes to stable her own mind.

"We're fine, Jesse." Olivia voice was soothing to Jesse's ear and she relaxed for a second. It wasn't much but it was something. "What we need to do is figure out how we're going to make sure a Wither isn't going to be freed." Jesse open her eyes and set Reuben back on the ground. She saw Reuben turn in a circle before he let out a loud squeal. He ran around Jesse's feet and then the feet of the others and his squeals got louder and louder.

Jesse kneeled down to grab the piglet. She gave him comforting words but Reuben just kept panicking. When she looked up, she instantly knew why Reuben was panicking.

"Guys, where's Lukas?" Jesse voice was full of panic, and desperation. She looked ready to faint, she was shaking like she was scared, the only one who looked even the tiniest bit puzzled for a fraction of a second was Petra and all she did was ignore it.

"Oh, no." Was all Olivia said.

"I swear he was behind me." Axel through his hands up in surrender. He even sounded worried.

Later on Jesse would blame it on the adrenaline.

"If he's not here…" Petra paused and Jesse let Reuben go, already knowing the answer "then…" Petra trailed off.

"He's still down there." Jesse whispered, she looked across the floor back and forth trying to form a plan.

"And Ivors got an Iron Golem down there, and a Wither ready to be let loose. We have to act fast." Petra quickly began the conversation.

All it did was annoy Jesse, this wasn't a debate or bickering over a serious topic, a person's life was on the line.

"We should ask Gabriel for help! He's the best warrior on the map, he'll know what to do!" Axel said.

"It's the smartest way to help, Lukas." Olivia agreed blindly in Jesse's opinion.

"But it's not the safest." mused Jesse. Petra shook her head, at _Jesse_.

"Trust me, Jess, he's tough," Jesse's blood boiled, she never said he wasn't. "he'll be able to make it a little longer." Jesse didn't doubt it, never for a second. She just willing to test fate.

"I'm not willing to just leave him down there with the danger level getting higher by the minute!" She snapped angrily. Reuben rubbed his head against Jesses hand for more comfort.

"And we are just wasting time arguing about this!" Petra snapped back. " We need to get Gabriels help, that's the best way to save Lukas." Jesse knew it probably was, she just wasn't going to risk it, ever.

In her bitterness she thought, _something none of you understand_.

"Then you're going to have to get Gabriel yourselves because I am going after Lukas." Jesse stood back up and snapped her fingers towards Petra while looking in Reubens eyes. It was her single for, 'follow person.' Reuben oiked, he obviously did not want to follow his orders.

Jesse didn't care.

"You're seriously going to help that tool after everything he's done?" The adrenaline had worn off and Axel was back to his normal self.

"Vengeance and grudges are not becoming of a good person, Axel. Learn. _It._ " Jesse snapped. She was going to leave but Petra grabbed her arm.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Petra asked. Jesse snorted.

"I know about as much as you, now, we're wasting time so let's get going." Petra narrowed her eyes, as if something had finally hit her. She nodded. She let go of her arm.

"We'll meet you back here, right?" Jesse nodded.

"Hopefully." Her tone was anything but hopeful.

"Be careful, Jess." Olivia advised.

"Don't do anything I would do." Axel warned. Jesse nodded again. Petra, Axel and Olivia silently left the corner to disappear into a crowd. Reuben was extremely reluctant to follow Petra like Jesse ordered.

When he left Jesse faced the oak door, setting her hand on the stone handle.

Lukas owed her big time.

"Here we go."

 **I'm done!  
**

 **this is the longest chapter I have ever written. and if you are wondering why, its because I have a philosophy. and I will follow it best I can. and because I've been gone for over a month, and didn't actually start writing until last week, I forced myself to write more. Ahhhhh, this was worth it.**

 **I hope anyway.**

 **Phffff...**

 **Guest Reviews!**

 **TheAmberShadow- thank you! I'm glad you liked last chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one!**

 **End of responses.**

 **well, I need to go take a math final now. I hope you enjoy your day. and you feedback is always welcomed.**

 **bye.**

 **-Kayla.**


	7. Chapter 7

**HI!**

 **Thank you to, Pokemonllover3000, The Sorrowful Deity, Miragold123 and TheAmbershadow for your reviews, I loved each and every one of them! And a special formal thank you to NovaAurora10 for all your PMs, I haven't had a friend to talk to this much in a love time. Thank you!**

 **POV: JESSE**

Jesse was a nervous wreck heading down the stairs of the basement entrance.

What would she give to be at home, melting cocoa beans in her furnace to mix it in warm milk for hot chocolate? What would she give to just sit on her bed with Lukas laying at her side, talking to her while she read? Just about anything to be honest. It would've been better than this, she was sure of that. Notch, Jesse just wanted to go home, but not without Lukas.

That was her problem, she couldn't leave Lukas. Even though she knew the statistics of him dying were technically low, she couldn't just _leave him_. So, even though she knew she was crazy, she kept low to the ground, her footsteps light and her breathing steady as to not be seen. She peeked around the corner of the wall, to look into where the library part was just in case The Golem was there. Sure enough, the Iron Giant was standing by the closest aisle into the library.

Jesse moved back behind the wall as soon as she saw the Golem, her heart rate already four times quicker than earlier. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. For a moment, she didn't think she would be able to get past, not safely anyway.

She must have done something right that day because even though she was breathing heavily and her heart was pounding, the beautiful sound of dense footsteps filled Jesse's ears. When Jesse looked back around the corner, the Golem was gone.

How didn't he feel her presence? Was that even possible? Jesse immediately stopped caring because she was not going to insult the one who feeds her.

She felt like a ninja when she ran into the aisle of the library, with her keeping low to the ground and trying to stay silent; give her a black costume and she'll be set.

"Lukas? Can you hear me?" Jesse whispered, to herself sounding quiet. "Even though I'm whispering?" She had no idea if that was supposed to be heard or not, a question or a joke.

Her answer never came but a chest lid opened across the way from her. Lukas poked the top of his head out of the chest so only his eyes could be seen. Jesse felt both pissed and relieved at the same time.

"Jesse? Is that you whispering super loudly?" Lukas staged whispered. Jesse could tell he didn't know if it was a joke or a question or a playful jab either.

"Oh, Notch…" Jesse rushed over to the chest, sliding onto her knees and setting her hands on the ledge.

The large chest was one of the ones closer to the Wither formation and in the part of the wide space opened up in the left corner. Personally, Jesse would have gone for the one Petra emptied out but…eh?

" _How the Nether are you still down here you blundering idiot_!" Jesse hissed harshly. Even though Jesse knew she was more relieved that Lukas was alright than she was angry, that didn't exactly help her from punching his shoulder.

Lukas flinched but he did open the chest more to talk to her better and he did seem regretful.

"That Golem was going to follow you outside," He explained, though his tone made the strong argument sound weak. "I-I had to do something." Lukas stumbled over his words which had him turning light pink. He was nervous and rightfully so.

Jesse shifted her position into a more efficient one by sitting on her hind legs. She wanted to kiss and hug him while she choked and punched him.

"I can't be-" Jesse first stumbled over her words when Lukas' eyes doubled in size to resemble plates. She was officially cut off when Lukas surged forward, wrapped his arms around her bust and crushed her to his chest. She was hauled into the chest with a tight, small squeak.

It was a tight fit with one person in an empty chest, imagine two people with a chest with stuff (though few) inside. Jesse wished she knew what Lukas was thinking, but sadly, she did not.

Jesse was on top of him with her head only having one place to go, in the crook of Lukas' neck. How fun. Sure, it wasn't the first _time_ , per se, they'd been in this position but it was still pretty uncomfortable how close they were and how little room they had to move.

Jesse was seconds away from yelling at him as to why he forced her into this tiny space when she heard the soft groans of an Iron Golem. Right. Outside. The. Chest.

Ahhh, great. She thought.

"Sorry, I panicked." Lukas whispered, he shifted around a bit to give her more room, but it was kind of pointless, there was no room to give.

Jesse did her best to hit him but she didn't do anything.

"Stupid! Not brave, stupid!" She hissed quietly so the Golem wouldn't hear. She didn't know what she was talking about anymore, him staying here or dragging her in here.

"To be honest I got his attention then jumped in here as soon as I could." Lukas muttered. Jesse for a second relaxed, at least he had some common sense.

"I hate you. I hate you." She grumbled into his chest. Lukas hugged her despite the oddness of it all.

After a few seconds Jesse stopped and focused on two things, one) the fact Lukas was okay therefore she should stop being angry with him and two) the sound of the Golems feet scraping across the floor not that far away.

The Golem knew they were there, that much was obvious.

"We need to get out of here." Jesse breathed and since they were not in the best position Lukas must have felt her breath. Jesse knew that because she felt Lukas tense and shiver. He didn't need to say anything for her to know what he wanted to say, ' _Please don't do that._ '

 _This is your fault,_ Jesse thought.

"You're going to need to bear with me," she warned. She had to shift around and set both her hands on either side of Lukas' head in order to gently open the chest lid.

Lukas bit the inside of his cheek and shut his eyes closed, humming silently to himself as a distraction.

"That Golem is right outside the chest." Lukas nodded in response to Jesse's observation.

"Joy to the map, we're gonna die." He said in the same tone of the famous song because that just so happened to be the song he had stuck in his head.

"Keep singing and you can't come over tonight." She threatened back. For a second she wanted to slap her hand over his mouth to keep him from responding.

"You aren't exactly making this easy for me." He muttered then kept humming to himself. Jesse turned bright red and her throat clogged up.

"Now is _not_ the time." Lukas didn't respond just kept humming.

Jesse needed to distract the Golem, (that was a given) how, was the question.

Jesse lowered the lid at last. She looked around in the chest for a better weapon than a golden one, but the only thing inside was glass bottles and Nether Warts.

Jesse fiddled with one of the glass bottles in the corner until she got an idea.

Jesse picked the glass up, her heart pounding at how dumb the idea was. She lifted the lid back up, putting all her weight on her hand.

She peeked out and waited until the Golem turned around. Quick as she possibly could, Jesse lifted the lid all the way up and tossed the bottle across the room.

The glass shattered _loudly_ , so when Jesse jumped back down, she was afraid that Ivor would hear from somewhere. Lukas hugged her tighter, probably thinking the same thing.

The Iron Golem moved away from them to stare at the glass shards on the floor with its lifeless eyes.

Jesse looked at the Giants back with a smile.

 _It worked, kinda_ , she thought. She fully opened the lid.

"Lets go." She said as she awkwardly stood up, having to set her knees on either side of Lukas hip and hands next to his head. Thankfully Lukas didn't seem to notice, or at least tried to ignore it.

When she got out, Jesse helped him out of the chest and they both bolted into the library part while the Golem seemed entranced with the glass shards.

With that part of their adventure out of the way, they still feared Ivor was around, so they stayed in ninja mode to not be heard.

"Where are the others?" Lukas whispered when they were about halfway through the area.

Just a few more blocks…

Jesse was very close to not answering, because she didn't want him thinking the others thought low of him. Well, not any more than he knew they did. After all, Petra was okay with him, Olivia seemed to be willing to give him a chance, Axel… will come around. However, Lukas was not one to drop a question until he had an answer, or at least one he thought was decent enough.

"The others knew that it would be better to try and talk to Gabriel," she explained first, hoping this would fix her concerns. "yes, the warrior. So that's what they did." Lukas grabbed her shoulder when she tried to escape him and his opinion on the matter.

"You should've gone with them." He sounded like a mother who entered on her kids painting her table and didn't know what to do because they heard her say she was going to repaint said table and decided to do it for her. yell at them? Explain what they did wrong? Punish them? Just throw her hands up and say, "don't do this again." Be proud they did something nice for her? Laugh? Or just tell them to leave her alone while she tried to understand what she was seeing.

He sounded confused is the moral of the story.

"I'd rather take my chances with The Wither and Iron Golem than leave you down here." She said in a final tone that said, "drop it."

He saw that this was her take on it, just like her opinion on his own friends, but unlike the latter where Lukas was ready to fight her on it, (for whatever reason) Lukas was not going to argue with her on the farmer. That would be suicide.

Instead, Lukas kissed her cheek, because one on the lips (though preferable) was not fitting for the circumstances.

Jesse smiled lightly, even though she felt more stressed than ever before, grabbed his hand and dragged him the rest of the way out of the library.

(LUKAS)

When they exited the basement, Lukas had no idea what he was looking at.

He knew the others had stayed up above to try and recruit Gabriel for his rescue mission, and to stop Ivor. Fair enough, understandable, he could live with that. However, he didn't know that Axel was (apparently) leading this crusade.

"Dude, I dunno how I can be any clearer! Weird guy!" Axel exclaimed awkwardly to the most famous Warrior on the map. "Doing weird stuff! Freaky with a side of strange!" Why, was Axel, of all people, trying to tell Gabriel what happened? Why not Petra? Or soft-spoken Olivia even?

You could argue that Axel was trying to keep the crowd from panicking and Lukas would respond, why? There was a Wither under the building about to be spawned, Lukas would have told Gabriel to evacuate the whole convention! These people lives were at risk, after all, this was serious!

"Why in the world…" Jesse couldn't seem to wrap her head around it either. She shook her head. "I love you, Axel, but why did they allow you to be their spokesperson!" Lukas kept quiet on that one.

"Why won't you listen to me?" Axel seemed defeated at this point, which was perfect timing for Petra to step up.

Even to Lukas, (who knew what Axel was talking about) Axel sounded insane.

"Gee, I wonder why." Lukas allowed the quip out, but he promised himself to be polite the rest of the night, as best he could.

Jesse must've thought he needed an extra nail in the sign because she turned towards him with the very scary glare she was known for.

"Lukas, please don't." Jesse sighed. She sounded tired. "You really don't have the right."

"What do you want me to do? Tell you charades-style?" Axel asked. Both Jesse and Lukas stilled.

 _Well, there goes that promise_ , Lukas thought. He looked at Jesse with a tired look on her face that didn't belong there.

She needed any other look on her face but that one.

"Do I have the right now?" Lukas joked, trying to make her laugh. She covered her eyes and snorted through her hysterical laughter.

"I swear to Notch…" she trailed off, she kissed Lukas' cheek as a thank you for the _terribly_ inappropriate joke.

"I promise you, that's the last thing I want you to do." Gabriel's voice was heard above it all. The way Gabriel was so deadpan about it made Lukas snorted unattractively.

A few people saw that Lukas and Jesse were trying to get to the front and generously moved out of the way. To be honest, Lukas had a feeling they all thought they were both insane like the people they wanted to get to. Or maybe lead them away.

"Four words, six syllables;" Miraculously, Axel was still talking. "sounds like 'scmonster in the schmasement.'" Jesse looked over her shoulder at Lukas.

"don't." Was all she said. Lukas wasn't going to say anything.

"Next!" Gabriel shouted. Lukas' heart stopped, this was what they were trying to avoid. They needed Gabriel's help, and he was just going to ride them off as a joke.

Way to go, Axel.

"Wait! Just-" Olivia stepped up with her hand in the air. At long last.

Lukas breathed just a little easier knowing Axel wouldn't try to explain the situation again.

They finally made it to the front of the stage, with only Petra noticing they were there. She smiled at the two and gave Jesse a thumbs up.

Jesse smiled back, though it was strained.

"I have a question!" Lukas froze in place.

 _Please, please,_ he begged. The new voice in the back sounded just like Ivor, he hoped he was just paranoid.

"Oh no." Jesse muttered. Lukas' hope was thrown into the sea.

"Excuse me, sir, you'll have to wait your turn." Gabriel told who was assumably Ivor.

"Just tell me first, do you really believe anyone can be great?" Assumably Ivor asked.

Petra, Olivia, and Axel couldn't seem to find the words to say to tell Gabriel to not listen to the man.

Lukas didn't think there was anything you could say that Gabriel would shush them on.

"With enough hard work, yes." The warrior nodded.

"Was that where I went wrong?" Definitely, Ivor walked onto the stage, dramatically revealing himself to Gabriel. "I simply didn't work hard enough!" He shouted.

Gabriel's eyes went wide and he tensed.

"Ivor!?" Gabriel shouted with recognition. "Is that really you?" Lukas looked at the two on stage. There was no indication they knew each other in a good way. Gabriel's eyes were filled with masked panic and despair, almost guilty looking. While Ivor looked angry, bitter and vengeful.

"they know each other…" Lukas trailed off. Jesse gripped his hand tighter.

"How dare you interrupt like this?" Gabriel said, his anger masking whatever he felt behind his eyes.

Petra smacked the stage with her hand to get Gabriel's attention.

"That's the guy who attacked us in the basement." Petra pointed directly at Ivor so there was no mistake. Gabriel looked between the group of friends and Ivor, who was glaring swords and arrows at them.

"He attacked you? In the basement!" Gabriel eyed Ivor before he snorted. "Huh, I wish I could say I was surprised." Ivor stalked towards Gabriel in a creepy predator way.

"If its a surprise you want, you're in for a treat. Why don't you tell them the real story, Gabriel?" Ivor motioned to the crowd. Gabriel stumbled back.

"Guards!" A random person with common sense called out. Lukas' eyes crinkled.

What did Ivor mean by 'the real story…'

"I see time has made you bitter." Gabriel said wisely.

There were a hundred stories revolving around The Order of the Stone. Around Gabriel. Anyone of those Ivor could be talking about.

Then again, this could just be a jealous rage type thing. It could a million things...

"And its made you, an even bigger fool." Ivor spat in Gabriel's face. He referenced the crowd with a wave of his arms. "Now these people were promised greatness; and I'm ready to deliver. I'm sorry this is how they have to learn the truth…" There was a lever at the back of the stage, it wasn't something that could easily be missed but at the same time, it was easily missable. It was on a stage, it could've been for a dozen things.

Ivor walked up to the lever and pulled it. The sound of Redstone hissing on, and pistons groaning filled the hall. A section of the floor opened on the stage. The wither statue emerged from the bottom, two of the three heads on either side.

Ivor walked up the steps with a hideous smirk on his face. He pulled out the third wither skull.

The room filled with screams, Lukas began to back up with Jesse in tow. He was ready to bolt if things got bad.

"Someone stop him!" Petra yelled uselessly at the already panicking crowd.

"' _Nothing build can last forever_ , Gabriel.'" Ivor quoted, raising the skull above his head.

"Ivor, stop!" Gabriel was too late, Ivor slammed the skull down onto the statue.

There was a small explosion knocking everyone that wasn't out the door yet onto the floor, but thankfully the blast was non-lethal.

Lukas flew back and landed on top of two people he'd never met before. Even more screams filled the hall, along with pounding footsteps.

Lukas rolled onto his knees, looking up at the monster now roaming free. It was most definitely a Wither, but it had that strange block in its rib cage.

Jesse managed to stay standing, backing up slowly with wide eyes.

"Creature; attack!" Ivor yelled. The Wither rose higher into the air, and fired one of its skulls into the ground at Jesse's feet. She jumped out of the way just in time. Lukas felt like he was going to have a heart attack when he saw Jesse barely escape the monster. Petra helped him to his feet.

The Hall was now empty, except for the small group that tried to warn Gabriel against Ivor.

The blast that The Wither fired destroyed so many blocks, but the particles that were left behind look to be absorbed by The Wither. That is, until blocks started floating out of their slots, one by one, turning into black rot so it could be absorbed by The Monster before them. The particles hardened and began to form armor around the Wither.

"Everyone stay calm! This foul beast is no match for me!" Gabriel shouted, though the only people still there was Lukas, Petra, Jesse and the girls shared friends.

"Creature: attack!" Ivor shouted a second time, but instead of pointing at the crowd, Ivor pointed at Gabriel. The Wither almost hissed as it floated menacingly towards The Warrior.

Gabriel drew his sword and got into his stance. He ran up to the monster and jumped, he flew through the air, slashed at the mystery block to destroy it. For a second, Lukas thought everything would be okay, but instead, Gabriel flew back from the harmless impact to the Wither and onto his back. Only a stud of his once powerful diamond sword as proof he tried to fight back.

"What have you done?" Gabriel grunted as he sat back up. Jesse, beautiful, stupidly brave, probably suicidal Jesse, went to help Gabriel up with a shout of his name.

"No!" Gabriel snapped back at her. He got up quickly but somehow managed to keep his dignity. "Stay away! It's after me, not you!" Gabriel stood his ground, looking up at the beast hovering over him.

Lukas jumped forward to grab Jesse's shoulders so she wouldn't take another step. He couldn't lose her…

The Wither tried to hit him but Gabriel ducked the blow.

"Look at him! The mighty Gabriel; looks like true greatness is out of his reach." Ivor's smug grin came from the side. Lukas tightened his grip on Jesse, trying to convey everything she needed to know if she wanted to break free from his grip.

Ivor stepped between Gabriel and The Wither, smug looking, all-powerful and insane. He looked absolutely evil. "He may not be able to defeat this creature, but I can!" Ivor turned and waved both hands above his head to The Wither.

Lukas crushed Jesse to his chest, and began to back away. Jesse grips his arm, telling him she wanted to stay.

Well, he wasn't going to leave her.

"Creature: retreat!" Ivor shouted. Nothing happened, the ground began to rumble and blocks started floating out of the walls, ceiling, and floor in small groups. The armor around it only getting larger.

 _This isn't how a Wither works_ , Lukas thought. _What did Ivor do to it_!

"Creature: retreat!" Ivor said again. Olivia and Axel began to back up. "Retreat, I said! Retreat!" Ivor was beginning to sound desperate.

"That's not working!" Jesse snapped. Lukas took another step back but Jesse stopped him again.

Petra moved back towards the couple.

Gabriel stood his ground.

"No need to be alarmed, my friends." _We aren't your friends,_ Lukas wanted to scream. "I have an elixir that will destroy this creature." Ivor brought out a purplish pink potion.

A potion of regeneration, if Lukas knowledge was right.

Jesse froze and removed Lukas arms from around her shoulders.

"That potion. Is that…?" Jesse trailed off before her eyes blew out.

"Uh oh." Axel's voice was barely heard but Lukas caught it.

Ivor through the potion right onto the mystery block.

Nothing happened.

The Wither was almost completely surrounded by the structured armor of rotten, hard, black, block particles. One head, the middle one, was engulfed in it and had a single purple eye, that seemed to glow with each particle the monster consumed.

"What? Impossible!" Ivor was definitely panicking now. He took several steps back, almost shaking in his fear. "I should have worked. I took such care!" Ivor

"The potion." Jesse looked directly at her friend, Axel. "Axel! You've gotta throw the real potion!" Lukas was too shocked to be angry.

 _He took the real potion, after we all said to not steal anything!_ Petra was most definitely pissed.

"But, finders keepers!" Axel said lamely.

Lukas felt something in him snap.

"Are you serious, man!" Lukas yelled. _He stole the real potion that's our only salvation, and he wants to **keep it!** _"Our lives are at risk here!" Petra set the back of her hand against his chest, stopping him from going any further.

Jesse also grabbed his hand.

"You thieves, you're ruining everything!" Ivor accused them, almost like _they_ were the ones that set loose a beastly monster of a Wither, that almost seemed to be tearing the ground apart.

"Axel, come on!" Olivia shrieked, her voice the loudest Lukas had ever heard it.

"Throw it, already!" Petra pestered. Axel seemed hesitant, but he threw it anyway.

Lukas would love to say that the glass splashed the potion against the Withers mystery block and the Wither went crumbling into the floor like a smashed cookie… but as much as he would love to say that, the particles finally reached the mystery block, and it disappeared before the potion broke.

"It's protecting itself!" Ivor muttered to himself, not a hint of regret in his voice. It made Lukas sick. "Without the command Block exposed, the potion is useless! It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" Ivor took one last look at his creation, turned on a coin and ran out the hall like…

Lukas was so hyped on adrenaline he almost laughed at his train of that that lead to, _he ran out the hall like the Wither's at his heels._

Lukas was losing it.

"Ivor, you coward, come back here!" Gabriel hollered at the retreating villain. All the while, the ground, the walls, the ceiling crumbling to help form the armor around The Wither. It was as if the blocks were bowing at the monsters command.

The Wither floated slow and lazy, it looked right at Gabriel with its two wither heads and one massive head, with sharp white fangs and glowing purple eye.

It purple eye began to glow, and Lukas jumped back when a stream of purple light shot out of the eye like an arrow. Gabriel gasped at the light he was illuminated in.

Lukas shot his hand out to grab someone, anyone, because what he saw was horrendous; Gabriel was floating up into the air. Right. Towards. The Wither.

Olivia was closest, so she instantly jumped up to grab The Famous Warrior. She caught his foot and barely managed to evade the death light.

Olivia was light, she wasn't very strong, she could barely hold onto Gabriel's foot. Her feet scraped across the floor despite every effort she was giving to keep still.

"Jesse, help me!" Olivia called over her shoulder. Without hesitation, Jesse rushed over and grabbed his other foot. Together they managed to keep Gabriel from moving long enough for the light to move away from the area it was focusing on.

Gabriel fell to the floor on his back. Petra ran over to help him up.

"Thank you." Gabriel nodded to Petra, Jesse, and Olivia. Lukas kneads his jeans with his hands from his nerves. Axel didn't look much better. "Ivor was right about one thing; I can't defeat that thing. Not on my own." Gabriel's voice was full of distraught, and hopelessness. If the greatest warrior was dismayed, what chance did they have? "Everyone's running away…" Gabriel paused, looking at the group before him. Jesse, Petra, Lukas, Axel, Olivia and Reuben. "except for all of you. Will you help me?"

Lukas didn't feel like he deserved the praise. He only stayed because Jesse stayed, if she didn't want to leave he would have dragged the both of them out of there a long time ago. If he was even half as brave as Gabriel thought he was he might have tried to evacuate people from the convention but Lukas didn't think he was.

He felt pathetic.

Jesse quickly agreed to help Gabriel, which actually made Lukas feel sick. Not because he would have to help now, but because he wouldn't have said yes, and he felt like a horrible person.

"I must get to the temple, follow me!" Gabriel took a look at the slowly rising, slowly growing Monster before grabbing Petras shoulder and running out of the room. The others not far behind.

Lukas ran outside, following Reuben because that seemed like a good idea, Reuben would stay with the others. The problem was there was a giant crowd just outside The Keynote entrance, so while Lukas got to stay with Reuben, he lost everyone else.

He didn't really mind Axel or Olivia, he knew if they got hurt he'd feel bad but after today, they weren't on his mind. Petra could take care of herself. Jesse was the one he worried about. Jesse was strong, she'll be fine, like Petra, but just like Jesse wasn't tempted to risk his life down in the basement, Lukas wasn't willing to risk her life.

He was at the fence with his girlfriend's pig, watching the crowd run away when he heard Jesse shout, "Hey! I'm up here! Somebody help me!" Reuben heard and jumped in a circle. Jesse was trapped in the purple light of The Wither, that had tripled in size (at the least) and now had three heads with a glowing purple eye each.

Lukas looked at Jesse scared out of his mind. For a brief terrifying second, all Lukas could see was Jesse being swallowed by The Wither, turning into black rot to become apart the monster's armor.

Lukas for a second froze, and if Reuben didn't bump into him while he passed, Lukas didn't know if he would have snapped out of it.

It just made him feel worse.

"Jesse!" Lukas ran in step with Reuben to their shared favorite person in the world. Jesse looked at both of them with wide, almost grateful eyes.

"Stay back! You can't help me!" Jesse was too high off the ground. Even if Lukas tried the only thing that he would accomplish is getting sucked into the purple light.

Lukas was willing to risk getting trapped into the death beam but Jesse latched her fist onto a stone block floating with her.

She started to slowly pull herself over the piece of ground. Lukas was shaking with fear.

 _Please be okay._

Jesse was on the edge of the stupid piece of ground and the death beam. Lukas crossed his fingers. The beam moved just a little, letting Jesse fall over the edge. Lukas tried to catch her and to a degree, he succeeded. He grabbed her torso, generally keeping her from crashing to the ground and they stumbled back. Lukas had never been more grateful to see Jesse okay.

Jesse pulled away, scooped up Reuben, grabbed Lukas' hand and Jesse ran as fast as she could go. Lukas could barely keep up with his girlfriends pounding feet.

Jesse came to a sudden stop between two booths and Lukas tackled her into a hug with Reuben in between them. He scrambled to grab her head and made her look at him.

"Are you alright?" Lukas' voice shook as he asked his question.

"Yeah." Jesse breathed, then set Reuben down. The little pig rubbed his leg against both his owners. She grabbed both his hands with hers to take his hands off her face.

Lukas looked over her shoulder at The Wither, bigger than The Keynote building, it's three massive heads each with its own set of cloud white fangs, glowing violet eyes, each with its own Death beam and the block-particle-armor beginning to form long, frightening tentacles like a squid.

The Keynote building was collapsing at the seams, turning completely into black rock.

Lukas was in the basement of that building. He was hiding in a chest with an Iron Golem standing right just outside.

"... If I was still in that basement-" Jesse waved her hand in front of his face in a clear symbol to shut him up.

"Don't…" Jesse choked on her words. She gulped, like the thought was disgusting to her enough for her to vomit. "finish that sentence, please." Lukas looked at the forming monster then back her. He gripped hard enough to emphasize his words but not enough to leave a bruise.

"Thank you, for coming back for me, Jesse." Lukas said, his hands shaking. "I wouldn't be here without you." Jesse's eyes almost turn red with anger. She drew her hand back and punched his shoulder. It hurt, a lot.

Jesse let Reuben jump into her arms, holding him with one arm the best she could.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Jesse muttered, grabbing his hand so they could run together without getting lost.

They ran between booths and went down back allies, trying to find the safest way out of the convention, while simultaneously looking for the others as well.

It didn't take long, because Petra saw them first.

"Jesse!" Petra yelled, waving her arms from behind the counter of a booth with all the others, Olivia and Axel. Subconsciously Jesse and Lukas let go of each other's hands and sped over to where their friends hid.

Jesse let Reuben go.

Lukas was about to speak when something caught his eye, the outside of the booth was a tinted purple color. He felt the blood drain from his face.

The booth broke into smaller pieces from the ground, getting sucked into the air by the Boss Mob.

Olivia and Axel both ran away from the scene as fast as they could.

Lukas was about to go after the other two but Jesse grabbed his arm.

"Wait! We have to stay together!" Jesse yelled at her friends running. Lukas knew they wouldn't be able to hear from here, they were too far away and now lost in the crowd.

"Jesse! Help me!" Lukas whipped around with his girlfriend in perfect unison, staring up at the sky without shocked eyes this time.

Lukas was just about ready to groan and mutter, 'Of course,' at this point.

Jesse jumped at the chance to grab Petra by her jeans, bringing her into the purple light. So they both wouldn't float away Jesse latched onto a fence.

All Lukas could do without getting killed was stand there with Reuben.

Jesse was able to hold on long enough for the light to move enough to leave her feet safe.

"I can't hold on!" She yelled just as the fence popped out of the ground. With that forever being in his top ten worst moments in his life (along with just about everything he's seen this day) Lukas literally jumped to grab his girlfriends foot. Another person had the same idea because someone else grabbed her other foot.

Lukas wasn't surprised when he saw Gabriel from the corner of his eyes.

As was hoped the light moved out of the way to focus on another booth. Petra fell to the ground the hardest, Jesse fell but not as hard. Lukas helped Jesse back up as Gabriel helped Petra to her own feet.

Axel and Olivia must have turned back when they found out the others weren't following them because they suddenly joined the group as if they never left.

"Do we have everyone?" Jesse gasped. Lukas steadied himself by setting his hand on her shoulder. He was trying to hide his shaking hands and bring color back to his face.

Olivia and Petra nodded.

"I think so." Axel added. Gabriel didn't even bother with small talk, he bounced on the tip of his feet past the group as he said to them, "We must set out for my fortress. We'll be better protected there." He sprinted away expecting them to follow.

Lukas was a sweating mess, and his feet felt like nails were being jabbed through them. Still, he ran.

Notch, he was doing a lot of that today.

While running for their lives Petra slowed her pace enough to stay in pace with Jesse and Lukas.

"Thanks for that just now." Petra thanked the both of them. Lukas didn't think he deserved it, he just grabbed Jesse, not her.

"Yeah, well, now we're even." Jesse muttered in between her gasps.

"yeah." Lukas lied, he still owed her for the Nether Star she gave him. He paid for it of course but he still owed her a favor, and to him, it wasn't complete.

They were now on the street that the entrance to Endercon was on. They were almost there.

Lukas ignored the purple light that was destroying building after building, structure after structure and the ground beneath their feet, he just focused on the exit.

"Incoming!" Petra called from behind him, followed by an explosion. The Wither was firing its Wither Skull bombs now.

Up ahead the gate to the town was being lowered. For what reason, Lukas could only assume was idiocy. (They were locking people inside the town, unable to get out!)

Lukas made it with time to spare but he skidded to a halt, he needed to know if Jesse was okay.

She was still inside, running past tractor beams that were chasing after other people to capture (sometimes even succeeding) and Wither Skull bombs. Lukas was waiting to jump back in the last second if that's what he needed to do to make sure Jesse wasn't left alone.

Thank his lucky stars Jesse did a roll under the gate just in time.

Lukas wasn't brave, or smart. He was a coward and stupid and weak and selfish. He knew this, because he didn't care to find the switch to reopen the gates, he didn't even think about it till it was too late. He simply abandoned all those people, maybe even The other Ocelots, behind those fence gates. No matter how mad he might be at them, or that he really can't stand to be around the other Ocelots, they didn't deserve this. Yet, Lukas just ran.

Halfway into the forest, they were still being chased like a wolf against a sick sheep.

"Stick together, everyone! We'll be safe as soon as we get to my temple!" Gabriel was yelling at the civilians that were following his lead as much as they were. The townsfolk screamed a little more, and clung to their hero's side a bit closer.

There was an explosion up ahead that caused the group to split in two, both sides screaming.

The explosion caused Lukas to head left with Gabriel, and Lukas had Reuben following him.

Lukas was his owner as much as he was Jesse's after all.

Gabriel shouted something about meeting up on the other side to group two, though Lukas didn't see the point. They probably couldn't hear.

Doesn't matter; through all the bombs, rough tentacles of The Wither Giant, Lukas somehow managed to survive, with Reuben in tow.

Lukas was hoping Jesse was okay. He lost her, he knew he did, and he was horrified by it. So scared that will be sucked into the death beams without him being able to save or at least try to help her.

 _Jesse can handle herself_ , Lukas reminded himself over and over. _She'll be just fine_.

Lukas hit a noticeable stone path going up a hill. He skipped past the stair blocks just so he could get into Gabriels famous (and some might even say Holy) fortress. His home.

The doors were wide open from the Wither already holding its beam onto it for long enough. They were just lucky enough for the beam to be gone.

Once inside Lukas first thought was _down_. It wasn't very hard to find a stair or two that lead down. It leads to a wall with lots of levers and an obsidian door.

Afraid to touch any of the levers in fear of springing a trap, the group (Olivia, Petra, Axel, Reuben and himself) waiting anxiously for Gabriel and Jesse to come open the door.

Just on time like Notch was watching, the two they were waiting for came in. Gabriel was already talking to Jesse and to some of the people that followed Gabriel but were still running around like zombie chickens!

"Hurry! Inside the temple!" Gabriel shouted. "The inner chambers built entirely of obsidian! We should untouchable in there! hurry!" Lukas had a grim thought.

The Wither mutant ate blocks to create armor, that was pretty emphasized already, and a _block_ is still a _block_. For all they knew, even _bedrock_ , the unbreakable block, could be moved by the Wither. Obsidian? Please!

Lukas didn't say a thing, it was just a thought anyway. Right?

Gabriel pointed at The Nether portal at the center of the room. "Get through the portal, you'll be safe there!"

They followed exact orders but came to a stop at the base of the portal.

Lukas had never seen a Nether Portal in his life, and even he knew something was wrong. Don't Nether Portals glow purple?

 _Glowing purple_. Lukas shivered.

"The portal isn't lit." Olivia said. Jesse stepped forward with flint and steel already in hand.

"I got something." She said. Jesse looked nervous.

With a flick of the wrist and a spark against the obsidian, the Portal burst into a glowing purple light. Just like they're supposed to.

 _Just like the eye._

"Everyone, get in!" Petra ordered. Olivia almost tripped over her feet going through and Axel took a second to grab Reuben before he jumped into the Nether. However, the rest were more hesitant. "now!" Petra added at the top of her lungs.

There was just one problem, Petra looked over their shoulders.

At the entrance of the obsidian chamber, a blocky tentacle of the monster trying to kill them circled itself around Gabriel's leg to drag him into the purple tractor beam.

"Gabriel!" Petra shouted. She pushed past her friends to help Gabriel. Just then the ceiling broke in, and another tentacle attacked Petra. She was able to grab her sword quick enough to fight the tentacle off.

With Petra busy, and Gabriel still in trouble, Lukas didn't even blink with surprise when Jesse head in the opposite direction of the portal.

She drew her gold sword from her inventory, ready to help.

Jesse was quick and light on her feet, so she was able to get halfway across the hall before Lukas was able to react.

"Jesse! Come back!" He yelled. Jesse turned around and gave him a fierce glare.

"Stay there!" She ordered, turning back around to save Gabriel.

Lukas almost got hit by the tentacle Petra was fighting, so like the coward he was, he hid best he could behind one of the pillars of the Nether portal.

He didn't have a weapon, not even the materials for a weapon. He reasoned with himself. And Jesse told me to stay here. It didn't stop the guilt from gnawing on his insides.

"Can I get a little help over here!" Petra yelled. Whether she was speaking to Lukas or Jesse, he'll never know.

Lukas peaked around the corner.

Jesse had saved Gabriel and they were talking at the entrance. True it looked serious but they could talk when they are _safe in the Nether!_

"I don't have a weapon!" Lukas answered Petra because Jesse was too absorbed in her conversation with Gabriel to answer.

Despite all that...

Lukas came out from his hiding spot.

He needed to help.

He was scared blockless.

He couldn't help.

Had he lost his mind?

He couldn't be a coward.

But he was one.

"Then stay there, you cocoa bean!" Petra snapped back seeing his turmoil. Lukas just stayed in his spot. Petra stabbed the Wither sending it back out of the ceiling.

Petra took a second to catch her breath.

"I'm gonna go see if I can grab a few more people," Petra told Lukas. He shook his head and his hands.

"It's pointless, Petra." Lukas tried to save her life by keeping her from doing something stupid. "Jesse, get back here!" He screamed trying to save hers as well. Petra looked angry seeing Jesse and Gabriel _still talking._

She wasn't jealous, that was obvious, it just wasn't the time!

"Jesse!" Lukas and Petra screamed after seeing her standing idly by.

"This isn't time for chit-chat! Lets go!" Petra added. Gabriel handed Jesse something that Lukas couldn't see from the angle he was at. It better be serious.

The ground trembled. Lukas blinked, for a second he thought he had lost his mind. It seemed plausible. The ceiling caving in to create a second hole and one of the Withers tentacles dropping to separate Gabriel and Jesse, was the indicator that no, he had not lost his mind.

Just to make matters worse, another black tentacle reached in through the first hole in the ceiling and began to attack Petra.

Lukas was still on the stone brick platform that held the Nether portal and all he could do was watch.

Was he really this pathetic?

Jesse started swinging her gold sword best she could against the Wither, but with little training and a heavy sword, she was doing awful. She hit the tentacle a few times and knew how to duck but that was as far as her knowledge went.

 _Jesse's going to die,_ was just one of the sickening thoughts Lukas couldn't remove from his mind. He might have screamed trying to stop thinking like that.

 _She'll live, she'll live._

Petra slashed a large wound into the tentacle, sending it into a writhing mess till it escaped back out the ceiling.

"You two," Petra pointed at Lukas still on the platform and Jesse panting with her sword next to her. "go through the portal and meet up with the others. I'll stay here and do whatever I can." Petra said sternly.

In his daze, Lukas didn't understand, like his mind was in slow motion.

 _Go… through… portal… sounds good. On… other… side._

"I'm coming with you!" Jesse flashed her sword, ready to fight alongside her friends.

That's one way of snapping Lukas out of it.

"No, you're not." Petra growled. She sounded like a military general telling her soldiers to abandon base.

"Have you lost your mind!" Lukas' voice was the highest had it ever been. He knew for a fact he was going to gain a sore throat just from that.

He stepped off the platform reading to drag Jesse and Petra, kicking and screaming like a three-year-olds Jesse and Petra, through that portal if it killed him. At least they'd both be safe.

Petra set a hand on his chest to keep his from stepping closer to Jesse than three blocks.

"The gang needs you, Jesse, go through the portal." Petras' voice had softened, sounding encouraging. "If anything happens, I'll meet you on the other side." Jesse's eyes went from angry to scared to hurt to determined in record time. If Lukas didn't know her so well, he would have missed it.

"But-"Jesse's voice was weak, she wasn't going to win.

"Go!" Petra cut her off in that same military tone. There was a quiet moment where Lukas just looked in Jesse's eyes, pleading her to come with him.

 _Please, Jesse._ He begged silently.

Jesse looked like she was about to break when the ground rumbled a second time. Instead of a tentacle breaking through, two purple death beams brightened the dark portal hall. One beam-catching Gabriel and the second beam just barely entrapping Petra.

Jesse watched both of them float into the air for about a second or two, looking torn and scared.

She couldn't save both.

Lukas tried to tell Jesse to go after Petra, he'll take Gabriel, but a Wither arm wiggled its way back into the Portal room and hit Lukas back four or five blocks. He wasn't hurt, maybe a small cut at the most, and a massive headache but he'll be okay.

"Lukas!" Jesse shouted, voice cracking worse than a stone brick.

Lukas waved her off, stumbling to his feet. He was fine. He really was.

Him getting hurt must have answered whatever question was in her head because Jesse immediately turned around to save Petra.

Petra and Jesse exchanged words that caused both to look at Gabriel.

Lukas was frozen to his spot.

His head hurt. He was sore from the running and yelling. He felt like all the adrenaline had left his body. His mind was in a haze and all his (to himself) awful deeds were catching up to him

 _You left all those people at the convention. You were going to let Petra go off on her own. What is wrong with you!_

Lukas was really beating himself up. Was that a bad thing though?

"Go! All of you!" Gabriel shouted. Lukas saw Jesse shake her head, "no!"

The arm of a Wither was back to hurt more people, waving it around, almost hitting Jesse and Petra more than once.

Lukas froze. The only thing that he could see was Jesse being grabbed by the ankle and being thrown into The Withers' mouth like a roasted pumpkin seed.

In the end, he was barely able to put his hands up to protect his already hurt adomined before Jesse (who was hit by the Wither much harder than he was and went soaring through the air like an arrow.) slammed into him, sending them up bouncing up the one stair block and rolling into The Nether by accident.

 **YES! I'm done!**

 **God, I hope this is good because this took me forever! God this is sloppy. And confused. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! (PS, I'm sorry for the awful grammar last chapter. I just didn't have enough time for a thorough look.)**

 **Alright let's get down to business. I think its obvious I'm doing a lot of things differently than the actual game. Thats a given its called a fanfiction for a reason. But other than changed scenes, dialogue, a few extra ones I came up with and the obvious Jesse and Lukas are together story. That's all thats changed, to most that'll be great! To me, I need something more! I'm writing a fanfiction I need to take as many liberties as I can here!**

 **So While writing this, unintentionally, I came up with an awful, awful idea… that I really want to try! It is awful and I'm not going to tell you what it is because it'll ruin it, but… if you think I should take a risk! Please tell me. I need some reassurance here.**

 **ALright that's out of the way.**

 **RESPONSES**

 **Pokemonlover3000- thank you. It means a lot. And wow, I'm so, so, so happy that your friend didn't succeed. Please give them some of my love. I'll be praying for them.**

 **TheAmberShadow- hehehe. I don't understand if there just wasn't any guards at the convention or if Jesse was just that good. Honestly it would have fixed some of the problems in the beginning of the game but whatever! Petra is suspicious, yes. I agree. I'm glad you liked this take better than the game. To me that's a huge accomplishment! :) Oh and I did good on my test! SO thanks for the luck!**

 **END OF RESPONSES**

 **Well I got nothing to say.**

 **BYE!**

 **-Kayla.**


	8. Chapter 8

**HI!**

 **Thank you to, Kingdom Hearts Slayer, Abyss101, TheAmberShadow, The Sorrowful Deity, CemronXTheXGamer, and of course, NovaAurora10.**

 **DISCLAIMER - (I haven't done one of these yet...) Minecraft belongs to Mojang. Story Mode belongs to Telltales games. :)**

 **POV: JESSE**

Jesse had never been to The Nether, she just didn't have the opportunity to go, and she wasn't allowed to go on her school field trip to The Nether Research Center (built by Ellegaard… oh, and someone else) because her parents were paranoid one of the mobs there would blow the place sky high and kill her.

This was her first time heading through a portal, one of her first times ever seeing one. How did it feel?

At first it felt like Jesse's bones were being stretched and muscles shrinking, her head felt like dead weight and her limbs went spontaneously numb. The discomfort was there, and then it was gone, like it was all a bad dream or trick of the mind.

The physical pain came when Jesse was spat out the other side of the portal. She landed hard on the strangely _cold_ netherrack. (The netherrack was like gravel in the fact it was made of small pixel rocks but it felt solid, like stone.)

 _Odd_ , She thought. _Isn't this place supposed to be hot_?

She groaned into the rock below her, because she had no idea how to describe how she felt. She felt fine, but she still had a phantom feeling that she was being squashed and stretched like a bug.

Jesse pushed up off the ground and onto her back. It felt nicer than standing up.

Lukas was next to her on the ground in a similar position, though he was clutching his stomach. He was no doubt in pain.

Reuben squealed in fear and began to run around his owners. He stopped in between the two and laid his head onto Lukas' arm as comfort. Lukas patted his favorite pig on the head.

"Jesse?" Lukas muttered. His girlfriend grunted before she slowly sat up.

"I'm good." Jesse grunted.

Olivia quickly moved to help her friend back onto her feet. Axel grudgingly helped Lukas out of obligation.

Lukas winced, his hands covering his stomach in record time.

Jesse hated seeing Lukas in pain, so clearly bruised under his shirt. She set a hand on his shoulder to help him out a bit. He smiled sheepishly, then pulled his hand away from his side.

He pulled up his shirt to inspect the damage. Other than his stomach turning sickly yellow and blue from bruising and a cut about half an inch long from when he was thrown halfway across the portal hall, he was just dandy.

"You're hurt." Jesse covered her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. She only got hit by that Wither once in the back, she felt sore and her back stung, but she know it wouldn't bruise up.

Lukas took a Wither Arm and a full grown women to the chest, there could be some serious damage.

Lukas shook his head, dropping his shirt back down.

"Just a cut, I'll live." Lukas assured weakly. Jesse frowned, that was the least of her worries, she was worried about internal bleeding, and him sleeping comfortably for the next few weeks, broken ribs and potential infection.

Jesse looped her arms under Lukas arms to help him to the closest raised Netherrack block for him to sit on.

"What happened out there?" Olivia asked the two. Jesse watched Lukas turn white and eyes turn watery.

She sat him onto a block, then sat next to him.

"Where's Petra?" Axel asked, practically spat.

Lukas gulped before he looked away sadly. Jesse hated that look on his face.

"We did what we could." Lukas whispered, barely audible. Jesse (hoping that the others didn't hear) was going to tell her friends what happened in a much less vague form, but one look on Axels face made the words evaporate from her brain. Axel heard and he looked pissed.

"What are you saying." Axel most definitely spat.

Jesse wanted to strangle both of the boys.

"Lukas, we both know what your implying isn't true." Jesse said softly. Axel looked between the two, confused.

Olivia stared at the Nether Portal, as if she expected Petra to run through any second.

Jesse rubbed her boyfriends back. Again, she was going to answer without the vagueness but she was once again too slow.

"It was chaos. I didn't try to do anything…" Lukas answered. Jesse kicked him in the ankle, making him wince but he didn't say a thing.

Jesse was so over Lukas' self blame for this whole disaster. It wasn't his fault.

"Lukas-" she warned. Jesse wasn't going to have it, she was going to force Lukas to tell the actual truth, but he didn't seem to care about her warnings.

"I got scared," Lukas continued as if Jesse never said anything. It infuriated her. "just for a second…" He trailed off. Axel took a menacing step forward, eyes ablazed and shoulders tense. His eyebrow scrunched together like a promise for pain.

"You got scared?" Axel asked rhetorically. He tightened both his overly large hands into fist the size of a block.

For someone who wasn't suicidal Lukas sure did want to _die_.

"... I'm sorry." He whispered and Jesse had a feeling it wasn't towards Axel.

 _Damn right you better be sorry you maroon_! Jesse growled to herself. But not for him freezing up as he claimed to have, no, for telling a twisted version just because he felt bad. It wasn't his fault he got knocked back by a tentacle, it wasn't his fault Petra wanted to stay. It wasn't his fault he didn't have a weapon or that there was a Wither in the first place!

"You got scared and you're _sorry_?!" Axel roared, looking ready to punch Lukas in the eye. Olivia, to Jesse's joy, jumped between the two of them, arms out, while Jesse quickly shielded Lukas.

"Stop it, both of you." Olivia said, glaring at Axel and looking back to give Lukas a sympathetic look. She had to remain neutral so Axel wouldn't blow up again. "Petra is still up there and arguing isn't going to solve anything." Axel turned around, thinking hard. Jesse mouthed 'thank you,' to Olivia for helping out. She nodded.

Jesse knew Olivia would come around. Even if it was based on pity by the looks of it.

Axel twirled around to grab Olivia by the wrist.

"We gotta go back!" He shouted as he began to pull his best friend to the Nether Portal. As brave as Axel was, Jesse knew that Axel wasn't a fighter. He was the troller in school that didn't get caught and ran from a fight when he did. He did everything from a distance. Despite common belief, he always ran in with a plan, not run in swinging without one.

Axel was in over his head.

"No! We just have to wait. Think about what you're walking into." Olivia shouted, wiggling her wrist out of Axels grip.

"There is absolutely nothing you can do. You'll end up killing yourself!" Jesse chimed in. Axel growled, hysteria and desperation radiating off of him in waves.

Jesse didn't like it when Axel got like this, it always scared her a little.

"You don't know that!" Axel yelled angrily. He looked slightly out of his mind. "You don't know-" While Axel had his breakdown Olivia glanced at the portal from the corner of her eye. It didn't seem that anything significant was happening, so when Olivia's eyes when wide eyed and she gasped, she had everyone's attention.

"Wait! The portals opening!" Olivia pointed at the subtle way the portals purple light seemed to move and sway like it was unstable.

Axel faced the portal with hopeful eyes and Jesse stood so she could hug Petra if she came through. Lukas stayed on his block, but he did grab Jesse's arm as if getting ready to stand.

The portal flashed black just as a person came stumbling out of nowhere. It wasn't Petra, to everyone's disappointment. It was the last person any of them wanted to see.

Ivor.

He glared at them all, the scariest and hardest directed towards Axel.

"You again?" Ivor spat. He bordered the line between impressed and surprised, not that Jesse actually cared. She sat back down, upset that Ivor came through and not Petra.

Lukas slumped against her sadly.

"Ivor?" Olivia gaped. Jesse didn't get why she was surprised, of course he was the one to make it. The one person who didn't deserve to get through the portal was the person to come through.

No one had time to process that Ivor truly was the one that passed through before a Wither tentacle suddenly exploded into the Nether, flapping around like a fish to grab anything in its path. Jesse and Lukas were far enough away to not get hit but Jesse still protected him.

The tentacle made Axel fall onto his back, had Olivia screaming and Reuben hiding in a pothole in the ground.

To their surprise (and mostly horror) the arm wrapped around the Nether portal, squeezed and the beautiful obsidian blocks flew out of its hollow rectangle shape. A few pieces landed on the ceiling to stay and one landed in the center of a small pit of lava.

It was quiet. Deadly quiet. The arm was sucked back into the Overworld, there was no way of getting the obsidian without a diamond axe, or without destroying the block in the lava. They were stuck.

Ivor was the first to break the silence.

"You ruined everything." Ivor muttered darkly to Axel, who in return, jumped back in surprise. "Don't pretend you don't know, thief! You took my most valuable potion and what shouldn't been my moment of triumph!" Let's be honest, not for the last time that day, Jesse saw red.

Was it wrong to want to see someone killed by a zombie, or shot in the eye by a skeleton.

"Excuse me, this is all your fault!" Jesse abruptly stood up, he short temper in full view of everyone around her. Ivor didn't seem pleased with her tone. He merely scoffed.

"I had a plan, and that boy interfered." Ivor pointed directly at Axel, who growled. His temper beginning to snap as well.

Jesse was a few beats in front of them, she stood a few steps forward and if Lukas hadn't reached out and snagged the straps to her overalls she would have decked Ivor. As hard she could, which was said to be an impressive feat by Olivia.

"Your so called 'plan' was to set off a Wither, _a Wither_ ," Jesse stressed each syllable in the awful word. The name of the product of a monster in the surface world. Though… if Jesse were to think about it, Ivor was the monster, The Wither was a pawn. "in a theater full of people!"

Ivor didn't look too happy to be reminded of his mistake. He seemed infuriated with Jesse just as much she was infuriated with him.

"A Wither I could control!" Ivor snapped. He was glaring at her the most now. He may have blamed Axel for stealing his wonder-potion, but he obviously hated Jesse more.

"Oh, yeah, that makes it all legal!" Jesse will never understand these types of people; thinking that just because 'they had things under control' or 'had a plan' or 'it wasn't supposed to end this way,' or 'it was for ' _justice_ ' meant that everything was perfectly legal.

She knew that The Town didn't have a guard force, not like Oak City where there was a guard on every street corner, a courtroom and a prison. But they still had laws, rules and regulations. What made them think a bigger city like Oak CIty (or Glass Central) wouldn't come in with their forces to have them tried and _hanged_.

People like this made no sense to her.

" _That is_ ," Ivor continued from his previous statement, much more thoughtful than before. He completely ignored Jesse's last comment, as if she never spoke. "until he showed up. There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Wither Storm."

 _Wither Storm? That's what its called_? Jesse thought. _That's one way to describe it_.

"And whose fault is that." Olivia muttered rhetorically. Axel walked up to Ivor and pushed him.

"Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk? We have to go and get Petra!" Axel yelled.

 _The portal is gone, Axel, there is no getting Petra. Not right now, anyway_. Jesse thought, but did not say. The look on his face was enough to tell her he already knew, ten fold.

Jesse felt a tug on her clothes, both on her overall straps and her pant leg. She looked down to see Reuben at her feet. She sat down next to Lukas and had her pig jump into her lap. She held him close to her chest as she continued to watch the ongoing argument she was too tired to participate in anymore.

It was quiet for a second. Ivor was the only one looking confused, as if just being reminded of something he had long forgotten.

A few seconds later, it finally donned on him.

"The _girl_." Ivor said with little emotion. "I saw her." He acknowledged. Lukas and Axel perked up, like pups being offered beef.

"What? You're serious?" Lukas asked, he looked better than his previous mopey self, it warmed Jesse's heart.

"While I was running towards the portal, I passed her." Ivor remember. Axel nodded for him to continue. "She was running in the opposite direction." Ivor told Axel, no sympathy or remorse. He sounded flat, a little arrogant as if to say that Petra was a fool and he was a genius.

"Notchdamnit, Petra." Axel cursed. Lukas didn't look happy either. She was leaving them behind anyway, but it did suck she didn't go through even to just on Lukas and Jesse after they were thrown in.

"Such bravery." Ivor admired sarcastically. Jesse forced herself to stay put and rub Reuben's ears. "But of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. And your friend, has crossed it." No one bothered to say anything, Ivor wasn't worth their time.

Ivor seemed pleased with himself. He managed to shut them up. Ivor examined the terrain, a dead end of a small cave, there wasn't many places to go, except to out of the little cave and follow one of two path. Ivor looked down both, then he smirked. He pointed down the right tunnel.

"Through that tunnel is a network of minecarts built by The Order of the Stone. It's your only way out." Ivor told them.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, what in this psychopathic notch damn mind made him think they'll listen to a damn word he said-

"We should go that way." Axel agreed.

 _Apparently Axel_ , Jesse thought.

"Times wasting. Lets go." Olivia nodded. She was looking down the tunnel as well, like she could already see the minecarts.

 _And Olivia... I'm sorry what happened to hating this guy_?

"We're just going to let this murder on the loose?" Lukas whispered to her.

"I don't think there's much we can do." Jesse whispered back. She wanted to tie him up and head to a big city so he could be properly detained, but she was guessing that wasn't a small-town-in-the-middle-of-the-woods thing.

Weird.

"What about you." Jesse asked before Ivor could leave.

"Excuse me?"

"How will you get out of here?" Ivor rolled his eyes.

"I'll use my imagination." Jesse's eyes harden. Honestly, she thought his last statement was funny.

"Then Notch help you. I'm pretty sure it's dangerous, judging by what's going on in the Overworld." Again, Ivor fumed. He most likely would have said something if a weird sound didn't come through the cave. It sounded like a mix between a child's cry and young pups wine.

"I'd wish you luck," Ivor glared. "but luck won't carry you through the Nether."

He pulled out a grayish blue potion to drink. As soon as the last bit of liquid left the bottle Ivor disappeared, the only hint he was here was the potion, which he dropped.

As soon as the last bit of bearable footsteps left Jesse said, "I think I hate him."

"Yup," Lukas muttered. Jesse let Reuben hop off her lap to stand. Her back was still sore, making her wince, but she was okay.

When Lukas stood up, on the other hand, he gasped loudly but refused to touch his abdomen where it hurt the most. He was able to stand without help, but that wasn't something to brag about, its walking he needed to worry about.

Jesse was there at his side to help him in less than a second and Reuben was leaning against his leg to help support him the best the little piglet could.

Lukas smiled thankfully.

Jesse wanted to believe that things were going to get a little better, maybe it'll get a little worse, but they were going to get out of The Nether with little to no trouble. She knew almost instantly that Notch was secretly laughing at her optimism when her small group of friends heard another strangled cry.

Jesse had never been to The Nether, she knew lukas went once but he only went to buy blaze powder from a merchant (who set his store up in The Nether because the overworld, "Damages the merchandise.") and the portal was just outside the little store; he never had time to see any of the mobs down there. So she had trouble pinpointing the blame on anyone in their group for not knowing that the cry belonged to a ghast.

The Ghast was much bigger than Jesse had imaged, just barely able to fit inside a decent sized gap in their protected room. For a second Jesse didn't understand why ghast were so deadly, this one looked calm and seemed to just be flying by. It didn't help her naivety that the mob had tears falling out of its closed eyes.

Thank goodness lukas had more sense than that.

"Run!" He shouted at the others. Axel and Olivia both bolted down the path Ivor pointed down without glancing back. Meanwhile, Jesse looped an arm around Lukas to help him run better, though she still didn't know why they had to run.

The Ghast eyes opened and Jesse soon understood. The mob eyes were glowing bright red, not the dark bloodish-maroon red that Jesse was told about once, and somehow the the bright, almost neon, red was more terrifying than the blood red eyes. The Ghast opened its mouth to reveal that it was equally bright red, slowly growing brighter and brighter.

 _Run_ , was right.

Jesse ran as fast she could while helping Lukas _not_ instantly fall face first into the ground. They surprisingly did well enough with running away from the ghast and even (barely) managed to catch up to Olivia and Axel. They jumped over the top of a small hill, disappearing out of sight but at least they knew where the two were.

Reuben ran ahead of his owners and went over the top of the hill too.

Jesse and lukas made it to the top without any seconds to spare, or even look where they were going, before they were forced to jump down the small cliff to get away from the chasing mob. Lukas winced and groaned when he landed; that was not a good idea.

Jesse was able to see, upon landing, that they were just blocks away from a railtrack that lead into a small tunnel. There were already minecarts layed out for them and Reuben jumping at the front of the train for them to come quickly.

Jesse, though sorry for him, grabbed Lukas' arm and hauled him towards the track. She tried to ignore any regard of his current state because it wouldn't matter if he was dead in the end.

Jesse went for the first two carts because that and the one on the end were the only ones open. She pushed Lukas into the second one while she jumped into the first, with Reuben jumping into her lap.

Axel, who was in the very back, pulled the lever, at last, that sent them all flying into the tunnel.

Lukas winced and silently groaned as he sat up in his cart, making Jesses and Olivia's cart shake more than they probably should have. Jesse had the disadvantage of having a pig on her chest so when she sat up she was forced to press Reuben in the farthest corner and moving her cart so much it scraped the walls of the tunnel a few times.

When they both ended up in a reasonably comfortable position that didn't have them moving around too much, the cave tunnel gave way to a single tracked bridge over a sea of lava in an open cavern.

"The Nether." Olivia breathed. They all stared anxiously at the lava below them, knowing that just one mistake and thrown over cart could be the end of them all.

Jesse wondered who made the track. She doubted it was Soren or Ellegaard because of the single block path that was just plain unsafe. It had to have been Magnus and Notchdamnit what is wrong with him? Does he have a death wish or something?

Jesse took a deep breath of The Nethers air, it smelled like wet wood smoke and quartz mixed with barely breathable oxygen. Strangely the air felt familiar, almost like Oak City's air. (despite common belief there wasn't a lot of trees in her hometown.) She turned around to look at Lukas who looked to breathing just as easily as her, but Olivia and Axel were coughing and wheezing behind them. Even Reuben was sneezing and making weird snorts.

"Nostalgic for you?" Jesse asked. "The air, I mean?" Lukas nodded.

"Ah, I missed the poor air quality." Lukas said sarcastically, it made Jesse smile. She asked if Olivia and Axel were okay behind them, they both gave a thumbs up. She asked Reuben the same thing and he nuzzled his face into her overalls. She took that as a 'yes.'

She finally focused on Lukas who was sitting awkwardly, pressed up against the back of the minecart and his legs curled into the front so he had little pressure on his chest and stomach.

"You alright?" Jesse asked. Lukas nodded.

"I'll be okay. I just hope there's a health potion wherever we're going." Jesse nodded, she was hoping for that too. She was also hoping that it was day by the time they got up there, that they didn't run into any more dangerous mobs and they ended just outside The Orders temple.

Yes, she knew that was wishful thinking. Jesse turned back around towards the front to just enjoy the rest of the ride.

Yes, she realized that was wishful thinking too.

Up ahead of their little train was a sudden drop, like a freaking roller coaster.

"Oh, no," Jesse breathed. She hated drops, she hated roller coasters. She could already feel the sudden stone in her stomach. "oh no, no, no, no, that's a drop. That is very, very much a drop." the others behind her said their own reactions, some terrified, others excited.

She hated the ones who were excited.

Jesse shrunk in her cart into a position similar to Lukas' and bottled down a scream when she felt the high speed of going straight down the side of a cliff. Axel whooped and hollered. Olivia made nervous noises, but seemed excited enough. All Lukas did was close his eyes and grip the sides.

The track went flat just as sudden as the drop making Jesse jump almost out of her cart. If it wasn't for Reuben as a weight she probably would have gone higher. Reuben squealed and buried himself farther inside Jesse's overalls.

Jesse slowly rose again to make sure nothing else would happen.

"Wall!" Axel shouted. Jesse groaned, before them was a netherrack wall that was only half gone, only the carts could go through without (barely) hitting the blocks. Jesse and her friends ducked inside the carts to go under the wall and not die.

Jesse sprang back up to see another oncoming wall of the same material.

"Oh, come on." she growled.

"Watch out!" Olivia hollared for Axel and Lukas to stay ducked inside their tiny carts. Jesse ducked a second time.

Thankfully, there wasn't a third wall. That would just be annoying.

They all emerged for, what they were hoping was, the final time. Lukas looked behind them at the second wall that was almost completely out of sight thanks to the polluted air.

"Is The Order trying to kill themselves!" Lukas snapped at no one. Jesse felt annoyed, and a little angry. This track was definitely built by Magnus; to troll the rest of The Order no doubt.

Olivia leaned back in her cart and groaned, she was over it too.

Axel kept his eyes ahead of the track, so the others could relax their eyes from that traumatic experience.

"Uhh," Jesse tensed up at the uncertain, concerned sound of Axel's voice. "I'm not the only one seeing that we're running out of track, right?" If Jesse was standing she would have fallen, she was sitting she would have fallen, and true to the pattern Jesse fell completely inside the minecart in a curled position. She quickly got over her shock and bolted up to look at the end of the track. At the end was a wall of lava, just waiting for them to go flying into it.

"No, no, nononono," Lukas pressed his back against his cart even more, his eyes wide and body shaking. "I'm not dying after all of the _crap_ we just went through!" Jesse wasn't either, but they couldn't just jump out. Maybe it they all destroy their carts at the same time...

"Jesse! That switch!" _What switch_ , Jesse thought. She looked around to try and find the switch that Olivia was talking about. It was barely noticable, just a speck towards the end, on the side of the track.

She only had one chance, maybe the others could hit it if she failed but that was just as likely as she hitting the stupid lever.

Jesse saw it coming closer and closer by the second, she knew she had to lean over the side of the cart to hit it. It was terrifying reaching over the side to hit the damn lever above a lake of lava. She was just lucky to have Reuben (who jumped out of her overalls at this point) biting on her straps to keep her in place. She was safe from falling. Now, what about everything else.

It wasn't reaching the lever that was the problem, it was hitting it hard enough for it to move that was difficult. So many things could go wrong. The lever could be rusted, the lever could do nothing, the redstone could be faulty… they sure were riding a lot on a Notch knows how old lever.

With a prayer and both eyes wide open, Jesse somehow managed to hit the lever. It flicked from one side to the other with ease. Ahead of them, a patch of rails disappeared with the block their were on. They were soon replaced with inactivated power rails.

As soon as Jesse's cart it the special rail she lunged forward, almost falling outside. The others hit the rails and came to a sudden stop soon after her. Jesse was shaking, she wanted off this track straight from… well… The Nether.

That sounded like a bad pun.

"Yes!" Jesse shouted, she was completely high on adrenaline, and very hysterical. She start laughing with pure joy. Both her hands were in the air and stayed there as she slowly sunk back into the confined comfort of her little minecart.

Axel and olivia were both still frozen in shock, and Lukas was on the other side of the spectrum from Jesse. He was shaking and scared, confused and almost inside the bottom of his cart, rocking himself back and forth best he could.

"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die." Lukas mumbled. Jesse was about to yell at him to shut up because he was ruining her mood, she was happy. They were safe.

Below them, the redstone was slow due to years of disuse, but the redstone began to dim as they finally lost connected to the pistons below the power rails. A deep groan echoed throughout the cavern, rusted parts finally finding use again. The first set of pistons retracted, then the next set, then the next. To the small group of friends horror, they began to sink.

They saw the wall of redstone trails that flickered off and back on after they past. They were all terrified of where they were going now.

They finally hit a track, a beautiful, beautiful track, that lead a million different directions. It seemed Magnus like screwing with his teammates before they split apart because the tracks switched, turned and lead every single cart to different paths. Before Jesse could say, "The Nether!" She found herself alone, the faint shouts and girlish screams of her friends were the only indicator they were still alive.

"Lukas?! Olivia! Axel!" She knew it was useless, but she had to try. Reuben squealed his prayers with her.

Her efforts were futile. She was just going to have to meet up with them later, hopefully soon, extremely soon.

Jesse watched the scenery as it past by, looking for anyone off in the distance, or maybe hear them. It didn't take long for the track to run side by side with another. Jesse really wanted for another cart to come rolling past with her with one of her friends inside, but nothing happened. It was just a blank track.

"Okay, Reuben," Jesse sighed as she kicked her feet up to relax. In retrospect, that was an awful idea. "remember how I said everything was going to be okay? I know I was wrong then, but I think this time-" There was a loud cry, a mix between a child's cry and young pups wine.

Jesse looked behind her, where another ghast was following close behind, quickly flanked by two others. Their eyes were closed, with their tears flowing nicely down the sides of their huge faces.

Reuben began to oik, he sounded annoyed and tired; just how she felt.

"What is my luck?" Jesse asked the ghast. In response they opened their devil eyes and mouths. "duck!" Jesse pulled Reuben with her to hide at the bottom of the carts. The middle Ghast behind them fired a fire charge, it missed them and hit the lava below them.

Jesse peaked back out, on instinct she drew out her heavy gold sword.

Lukas' voice filled her head.

 _"Did you know you can hit a fire charge, sword, hand, piece of paper and it will bounce in the other direction?"_

 _"How the heck is that possible?"_

 _"Because its small, flying explosive, not a ball of fire. You block or hit it like deflecting a ball and it will make it fly the other way, where it stops flying for more than a seconds will make it explode." Jesse remembers Lukas making a small explosion with his hands. They were just friends back then, they were working on an extension of her house, a few months after Jesse's second building competition._

 _"What about breaking it in half?"_

 _"They're hard to break open, even with diamond tools. Scientist say the explosion they give off on the inside is more than 100 TNTs. But the shell protects you from taking too much damage."_

 _"Huh, cool."_

Lukas' nerdiness came in handy sometimes.

The ghast cried once again, the one in the middle mouth began to glow brighter and brighter. It fired another fire charge straight at Jesse's head. It was painful for Jesse to wait until the charge was close enough to hit with her sword.

Four blocks, three, two… Jesse swung at two blocks away, because that means she would hit it at one, just in time.

Just like Lukas promise, her sword hit the charge on the side, it change direction and flew at the ghast on the left. It touched the ghast but inside of bouncing off, it seemed to almost attach itself to the mob. Exactly two seconds later it exploded and the ghast died.

Jesse smiled a little.

The ghast on the left fired, Jesse swung and hit the ghast in the middle. She didn't know what to do anymore. Wherever she swings it will go in that direction.

The ghast fired another charge, not knowing what to do, Jesse ducked with her hands above her head. Reuben squealed louder and pressed himself close to her chest.

Her sword was peaking above the side of the cart, and the charge hit the sword edge. The sword bent back a little before going forward, it being a soft gold sword, and sent the charge spinning towards the last ghast.

It attached and exploded.

Jesse was on high alert for a few seconds, she heard nothing.

She slowly peaked up and saw that the Ghast was finally gone. She heard an explosion, then the ghast was gone. For a few minutes she wondered what happened, but she ended up on caring.

She turned to the front of the cart, she watched The Nether pass by like nothing happened.

Reuben peaked over the edge with her, searching for something that wasn't there. The little piglet nudged Jesse, wanting to make sure she was okay.

"Ghast are officially off my to-see list." Jesse answered with a pat on his head. Reuben oiked in agreement. Ghast had done… more than enough to make certain that Ghast were feared by her as much as possible."Done with Ghast. I never want to see them again."

What was the old saying?

Karma is a… something. Jesse couldn't think of the word, but she knew the meaning! Because apparently, she hadn't suffered enough for whatever sin she was paying off, of course there was a fourth Ghast! Or maybe it was the missing third one. (In her mind anyway.) for the love of Notch, Jesse didn't see the third die, it wouldn't surprise her!

"Reuben. Never let me talk again." Jesse didn't even move, she was too mentally _done_ to want to do anything.

Jesse just gripped the sides of her cart and just prayed that she will be okay as she flew past the floating mob.

It was too late she realized that the end of her track… was missing, and therefore, going to make her fly off to who knows where.

Jesse finally felt human again as she pressed against the cart with Reuben and flew off the end of the track, right past the Ghast. They just did a cry, eyes still closed and mouth not glowing.

Jesse had terrible images of drowning in lava, of her skin burning off to match the temperature of the molten rock.

She had quick flashbacks of random points in her life, like what she did last week and her dad giving he hug as she packed the last of her stuff into chest before she moved to town.

She didn't see her life flash before her eyes, she wouldn't say, it was just the same six or seven memories on repeat for those awful four seconds she was in the air.

She hit the track it lead to, the broken part apparently not being broken like she originally thought.

 _Damn Magnus… damn him so much_ … Jesse thought.

Jesse was now Lukas from earlier, curled into a ball on the floor of her minecart and trying to calm her pounding heart.

Her cart jumped forward a bit as it ran into something else on the track. Jesse guessed it wasn't dangerous as she kept moving and no mob jumped in to play.

Relief flooded her system when she realized what it was.

Ahead of her, Axel, Olivia and Lukas were rolling in a train once again. All looking fine, but traumatized no less.

"Never again, never again," Lukas muttered.

"Is everyone okay?" Olivia asked with a groan from the second cart in the train.

"I mean, I'm not _dead_. I guess that's pretty good." Axel answered, he was first in the line. Lukas groaned, everything looked like it hurt.

"Yes, yeah, on the not dead." Jesse answered, pressing her face into the metal of her minecart. Reuben oiked lazily next to her. Jesse patted his tiny head.

"How can Petra come down here all the time." Lukas stated more than questioned. "This is place is a nightmare."

Jesse slowly rose from her fetal position and slumped herself over the edge of her cart.

"It's The Nether, Lukas," Jesse felt drunk, or high. Give her a bottle of rum, have her take a sip and she probably would have passed as drunk off her horse at this point. "did you expect trees and sunshine?" Lukas looked up at her, behind him (it was an awkward angle, yes.) He smirked at her snarkiness.

Olivia laughed, she was laughing so hard she was holding her stomach. She had no idea why she found it so funny, she just did.

"By the way," Olivia added, her tone nothing but smug arrogance she never had. "who was the one that screamed like a squeaky piston? Sounded like Axel to me." Axel blanched, his eyes almost doubled in size. He seemed embarrassed.

Lukas chucked from his spot, while Jesse found herself smiling.

"I think I heard him too." Lukas commented, to further the teasing.

"What? Me? How do you know it wasn't Jess." Axel defended himself… badly.

Jesse didn't really scream on her trip, which she was more proud of then she should have been. It just felt _good_ , and that's all that mattered.

"I personally think it was Lukas." Jesse teased, still slumped over the side. Lukas smiled flirtatiously.

"Now, what did I do to you?" Lukas asked, making it nothing but obvious he was being flirty and ironic. He gave her a side look that was all smiles.

"Want the list in chronological or alphabetical?" Jesse said in the same ironic tone. Lukas set a hand on his heart.

"Oh, that hurts." They all burst out laughing, and they laughed almost the rest of the way.

* * *

 **POV: OLIVIA**

When the minecart train finally came to a stop, all Olivia wanted to do was jump out of the torture chamber on wheels and get out of The Nether. If she never came back she wouldn't complain.

However, one step outside the cart and she knew she made a mistake. Her head twirled with vertigo, and she felt sick. She gripped the side of her cart as she held her stomach.

She groaned.

Axel jumped out quickly, which had him almost collapsing as well.

Jesse and Reuben climbed out slowly, taking their time to not lose what little food they had lingering in their stomach.

Jesse didn't seem as dizzy as Olivia and Reuben stumbled a bit but he didn't fall which is always good.

Jesse was the first to recover and she helped Lukas out of his cart without hurting himself more than he had to.

Axel and Olivia managed to feel better, enough to look around without getting a headache.

They were at the bottom steps of a sort of temple like area. They were surrounded by Nether Brick walls and fences, keeping them from toppling into the lava below them.

Olivia had never been happier to slowly walk away from a minetrack.

Olivia, covered her stomach (coughed a few times from the terrible air quality) as she began to walk to up the steps, breathing heavily and temples pounding.

She looked behind her halfway up, Jesse was helping Lukas walk still. He didn't look any better than the second he came flying out of the portal earlier.

Notch, that felt like days ago.

Olivia waited for Jesse and Lukas to catch up, so they could finish together.

Axel just past the three of them to the top of the… temple? Room? Tower? Olivia didn't know.

"Woah, look at this place!" Axel shouted from the top.

The three finished their walk and separated. Jesse let go of Lukas so he could sit down and wondered in one direction.

Olivia looked around, finding the place impressive like Axel. It had an over arch made of nothing but Nether Brick materials, the floor was solid and well designed. The sides were lined with fences but you could still see the area around the tower will ease. At the center of the tower like pillar, there was a Nether Portal, that was honestly the least interesting thing about this place.

Olivia headed straight for the side fences. They were surrounded by a lava lake, and dozens of tracks, _dozens_ , all leading to this one place.

"All the tracks converse here." Olivia leaned over to get a better look were the tracks headed. She saw little signs next to each track. She didn't see them when she was down by the tracks. "You could probably get to anywhere in the world from here." Olivia realized that was the whole point, to be able to go from one place to another.

By why wouldn't they just create a train station on the surface? Seemed a bit impractical to do it down here when you don't know where the portal is going to lead you.

"One block in The Nether equals eight in the overworld." Lukas said from his spot on the floor.

Olivia turned to listen to Lukas better. He was laying flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling and breathing _perfectly fine_. (Olivia did not cough.) Reuben was also at his side, laying his head on his hand, his eyes sad.

Olivia found that weird, Reuben didn't get attached to people this quickly. It took time, but he seemed to be glued to Lukas at the hip even more so than he was to Jesses.

"You could literally cut your travel time by one one-eighth of the normal time." Lukas finished, snapping Olivia out of her daze. Olivia shook her head and pushed that train of thought of her head. Reuben didn't like seeing people hurt, that was all.

"How did you know that?" Olivia asked politely. She was genuinely curious. It wasn't everyday you heard facts about The Nether spoken with so much… fact.

"I used to live in Sahara City." Lukas explains. Axel, who had been glowering at Lukas for most of the time, scrunches his unibrow up. Olivia turned her head.

What was… Sahara City?

Jesse saw their shared confusion and she cut Lukas off.

"Glass Central." She told her friends. They both tipped their heads back together. Olivia understood now.

"Ohhh." Axel and Olivia said together. She honestly never took Lukas for a City Boy, he seemed well traditioned in their small town life. She knew he moved their a few years ago but thought he came from a different town no one's ever heard of.

Glass Central? Really? Seemed like an alien idea to be honest. Lukas, born and raised in Glass Central…

She waved for Lukas to continue his story. Lukas didn't seem surprised that they didn't know that Sahara City and Glass Central were the same place, a little annoyed, but not surprise.

"And we had really big schools, and I took a lot of advanced classes throughout high school." Olivia had never been to 'high school,' they didn't have schools in Town. They just learned from their parents, took up their business and learned new things (things their parents didn't even know) from books they bought for two coal pieces at the local crazy shop. The only reason why she knew what High school was was because Jesse explained it her.

Wow, Jesse was from a big city, too… Olivia could see it as easy as she could see Lukas walking in a street filled to the brim of people and buildings towering a hundred blocks tall.

Jesse stood next to Lukas head, somewhat protectively if Olivia was honest…

"Wanted to be an alchemist?" Jesse asked. It was… oddly specific...

"Yup." Lukas popped the 'p.' Olivia wondered if she was the only one picking up on how weird Lukas and Jesse were acting.

Wait a minute… Lukas wanted to be an alchemist? What…

Olivia had too many questions or one day.

"Well let's hope we don't need your excessive knowledge of potions later on, because here's the portal." Olivia tried to brush Lukas old dream career but it stayed in her head. _Later_ , she told herself.

"Why would we be worried about that? It leads back to the surface." Axel said, he sounded happy and hopeful. He looked like he just wanted to hope right in and never come back to The Nether. Olivia didn't, and couldn't, blame him.

"The surface is also where that creature is." Axels gleeful face fell at Lukas' words. He didn't look like he wanted to go anymore.

"Exactly. We have no idea what's up there. It could be dangerous." Olivia agreed. Honestly? She was beginning to… like Lukas. Not in a romantic way! Notch, no! As a friend. For all the times his friends made fun of them, he was actually really cool.

You know, as Olivia thought about, Lukas always kept the teasing to a minimum. He never engaged and lead them away, he always cut in and told them to shut up. He glared at them, and even apologized on behalf of his friends. He never participated, never ever.

Maybe Lukas wasn't so bad.

"Well, going off of Nether VS. Overworld logic we did travel pretty far." Lukas pointed out. Olivia nodded to herself, he was right.

"That doesn't mean the other side could lead us into the middle of a cave, or a field full of average monsters." Jesse cut in.

The area was quiet, everyone taking in the information at their own patient. They eyed each other nervously.

"So…" Olivia trailed off. "who's going first?"

"Not Lukas, he's hurt enough as is." Jesse gave said boy a shriveling look. He glared back.

"Then following your logic, you can't go either." He snapped.

"But she's the only one with a sword…" Olivia muttered, she sounded weak, and cowardly, but it was true. She was the only one with a sword and knew how to use it.

"Then one of you can take it." Was Lukas' response.

"I'm alright guys, really, I can go." Jesse pulled out her sword for emphasize, she even got into a fight stance to prove she'll be okay.

"No." Surprisingly Lukas and even more surprisingly (because Olivia didn't think he was against it) Axel both said together, firmly.

"Give it here, I'll go." Axel took Jesse's gold sword right out of her hands, then headed to the portal. At first he seemed confident and ready, but as soon as he was a block away from the portal he seemed to regret his decision to go first.

He muttered a few words of encouragement to himself, but he couldn't seem to make himself go into the portal. He looked behind him several times like he was expecting someone else to volunteer in his place.

It took a snarky quip from Lukas, that Olivia found kinda funny, to get him to go through.

"You know, thanks for being so brave, Axel. We really appreciate it." He said sarcastically. Axel growled, then forced himself through the portal.

They waited several minute and when Axel didn't come screaming back through, they guessed it was safe. Or deadly dangerous, whatever.

Jesse helped Lukas up and Olivia picked Reuben up, despite the piglets protest.

"That was mean." Jesse muttered to Lukas before Olivia jumped into the portal.

When Olivia exited the portal, she didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't Axel breathing heavily in the middle of a pond, sword drawn and hands shaking.

"I hate zombies." Was Axels only explanation. Olivia nodded.

The portal was carved into a hillside cliff, surrounded by a pond. There was a small overgrown path to a clearing surrounded by trees.

Olivia treaded through the water to get to the clearing. She was extremely annoyed that her pants were wet and she was now freezing. A part of her thought that maybe the Nether wasn't that bad because at least it was warm down there.

Jesse and Lukas stepped through, the latter walking by himself but Jesse still looking anxiously at every step he took. They didn't look too happy to wade through the pond either.

Olivia twirled in a circle around the clearing. She couldn't see a damn thing that resembled a shelter. Why would the central control center for The Order of the Stone lead to nowhere.

Axel stepped next to her and growled. He was dripping wet, and shivering the hardest of them all.

"And now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere." Olivia said exasperated and tired. She set Reuben down to walk around. Instead he went straight for Lukas and Jesse, oiking with concern. Olivia chose to ignore that.

"Maybe not." Jesse said. She patted Reuben on her way next to Olivia's side, her arms were crossed and her teeth chattered. "Before I was thrown into the portal Gabriel told me to find The Orders temple. He said to find Ellegaard and Magnus; if the tracks down there all lead to here…" Jesse trailed off for them to fill in the blanks.

"Then the temple is near here." Lukas finished for her. Olivia felt sick again, they were lost, that's what they were. The temple was Notch knows where and the vegetation hid the path to The Temple.

It was hopeless.

"You nearly got yourself killed for that?" Olivia jumped, she didn't expect Lukas to keep speaking. In fact he sounded angry, at Jesse. He was even glaring at her from his nearby spot.

Jesse turned with a threatening glare of her own.

Goodness what happened? One second they are nice and friendly to each other and the next they hate each other.

Or was that a… protective angry?

No, that can't be it.

"I could say the same about you, except about you staying up there without a sword, period." Jesse spat.

Or… maybe it was. But why? They barely know each other.

What was Olivia missing?

"Alright you two, insulting each other isn't going to get us anywhere." Olivia snapped them out of their glaring competition. Whatever they had happened between them, they didn't need a fight breaking out. "So, we're looking for a giant building. It should be pretty obvious."

Lukas shook his head, mumbling shamefully, "I say we bed down for the night." It was actually a good idea.

"But we just said we need to find the temple." Axel argued, sounding snarky and mean.

"It's dangerous to be wondering out in the dark." Lukas said calmly.

"If we find the temple than we have a shelter already!" Olivia was really getting annoyed with Axel's attitude towards Lukas. He was smart and had helped them. Other than be friends with a couple of jerks, what had he ever done to them?

"Mobs don't spawn within a thirty block radius of a person. We'll literally be walking into hoards." Was Lukas' final argument. Axel looked ready to fight back, but luckily, Jess was there to help.

"Then building a shelter is an excellent idea." Jesse gave Axel a warning look that said, 'drop it.'

Axel huffed.

"Okay, then we should hurry. I say we build a treehouse." Olivia offered.

"That'll take forever," Axel complained. He looked sore about losing his argument with Lukas. "and we'll be exposed while we do it. We just need a quick and dirty hut."

"No treehouse," Jess agreed. "those things will be a disaster to climb into." Jesse motioned to her back and Lukas' whole front side.

Olivia smiled apologetically, she wasn't thinking.

"Then let's get to work." Olivia agreed.

* * *

Olivia punched several trees to make as many wooden shovels as possible, then got to work.

Axel and Olivia did most of the digging, with Jesse helping without taking 'no' for an answer. Lukas was forced to watch with Reuben sense he could barely walk on his own

After Axels shovel broke, he started on the foundation of their hut. That wasn't too long ago, he was starting on the roof and was yelling at them to give him more dirt.

Jesse gave her few pieces of dirt to Axel and leaned on her shovel next to Olivia.

"You doing okay?" Olivia asked her.

"Yeah, just a little sore." Olivia turned to look at Axel.

"Looks like Axel is going to be doing most of the building."

Jesse snorted, "Probably best." Jesse looked around before releasing a long breath. "Hey, I'm going to The Nether for a piece of Netherrack, for a fireplace." Jesse told Olivia. She nodded.

"Okay, I'll get the last of this dirt for Axel." Jesse and Olivia exchanged quick goodbyes before Jesse started her walk towards the Portal.

Breaking ten blocks of dirt was easy so Olivia was done in no time. She handed Axel the dirt he needed, which he took without question.

"Need help, Axel?" Olivia asked politely, even though helping Axel build was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Nah, I'm good. You can go sit down if you need to, Olivia."

Feeling relieved, Olivia walked over to Lukas and Reuben to sit down. At first she was a little hesitant, but then she realized she shouldn't be worried about Lukas anymore.

She collapsed into the dirt next to him and the little piglet with a sigh of content.

"Uhg, I remember when I used to love destroying hills with a shovel, now it's just a pain." Olivia smiled fondly at her childhood memories. In hindsight they weren't supposed to be very fun.

Lukas snorted, "Can't say I feel the same. Back in Sahara you had to travel valleys outside of the city to do anything like that and not have anyone get mad at you. Couldn't really destroy anything actually." Olivia turned her head, finding that… interesting and surprising.

Learning more about Lukas' background was oddly nice, it showed he had a tiny bit of trust in her. She liked that.

"So what did you do?" Olivia asked. When she was a kid breaking and building things was how they played, having small competition with the other kids and seeing who could chop down a giant oak faster was how they played. Not being able to do that must have been incredibly boring.

"Played with the other kids; games and mock sword fights. You don't really learn how to break or craft things till your… I want to say twelve, maybe a little older." Olivia frowned.

"Thats… awful." Lukas smiled shyly, he didn't seem surprised, just amused. He had had this conversation before.

"Just another difference between living in a big city and living in a small town." Olivia hummed. She began to pick at the grass blocks underneath her. She was thinking about The Nether and having to hit levers, buttons, and ducking under obstacles in order to live. They were traps worthy of Ellegaard, but she wouldn't dare make those on a minetrack.

She thought about finally meeting up with Axel again, then with Lukas. She thought about how Lukas said he wanted to be an alchemist. It didn't make sense to her, Lukas was a builder. That's what he did. He was the best in town. Alchemy and building are two very different things, practically opposites, so how did he go from one side of the spectrum to the other.

"Can I ask you something, Lukas?" Olivia needed to know. Lukas shrugged.

"Don't see why not."

"Back in The Nether you said you wanted to be an alchemist?"

"Uh, yeah, but everyone thought I'd be a better builder than a scientist." Lukas leaned back, away from Olivia.

"Why's that?"

"No use for it, but a city like that could always use a good architects." Olivia didn't understand how a huge City with millions of people could not use potions to their advantage. Did they cause chaos or something?

Questions aside, if he wanted to be an architect, then why did he move to a small town where literally no one needed a house.

"Then why'd you move?" Olivia asked.

"To get away from the heat and be closer to Endercon." Lukas answered, almost robotically. That wasn't what Olivia wanted to hear, she wanted to know why Lukas wasn't acting out on either of his dream careers.

"Ever thought about learning about potions again?"

"Sometimes." Olivia waited for about a minute for him to continue.

"But?"

"Nothing." Lukas cringed back when Reuben unexpectedly liked his face. He playfully pushed Reuben back away from him. "Sometimes I think about being an alchemist, but it would be impractical. Takes too much time and I'm a bit late to that scene." How old was Lukas? Olivia personally was the youngest of her friends at twenty three, and Lukas was obviously older...but by how much?

 _Too many questions, stay on track, Olivia_ , she told herself.

"I know you help out with buildings but you more of a construction worker than an architect."

Lukas Smiled fondly with a bit of a laugh, "Ha, yeah, seems to be the only thing I'm good at, actually." Olivia frowned deeper. Lukas' seemed to keep switching patterns, and answers.

 _He says one thing, then says another_. Olivia thought.

"Why would you say that? What happened to being an architect?"

Lukas shrugged against, now he was picking at the grass. "I can design houses, and small buildings, give me something like a… skyscraper or factory to build? Yeah, no. That's pretty much the story of my life. Okay at everything, but not good enough to be anything. Except following directions." Olivia mouth went dry. She couldn't believe someone would say something that about themselves so… nonchalantly, almost as if it was a joke. It was slightly heartbreaking.

"oh." Lukas raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"You'd be surprised to know that it doesn't bother me too much." Olivia blinked, she did not expect that to be his response.

"How?" She asked hesitantly. Lukas stopped to think. He looked up past Olivia's shoulder at nothing in particular. He was just thinking.

He shifted his gaze to Olivia.

"'Cause I'm good at a little bit of everything. It's nice sometimes." Olivia took a second to think about that. It was… kinda nice to hear that.

"Guess that's one way of looking at it." Olivia agreed.

They sat there in silence, not needing to speak anymore. Olivia knew that she had learned enough about Lukas for one day.

Reuben grunted a few times, a little piggy smile on his face. Eventually Jesse came back with a single piece of netherrack in her hands.

"I'm back." Jesse announced. Olivia waved and Lukas nodded. Reuben oiked and Axel turned to look at Jesse curiously.

"From where?" He asked. Axel hopped down from the roof of the hut, now finished and needing a door.

"The Nether, I went to grab something." Jesse answered.

"What did you get?" Jesse showed Axel her netherrack. Axel nodded. He was impressed.

"Oh, smart, put it in the middle." Axel pointed to the center of the hut. Jesse nodded and walked right into the hut.

Olivia stood up, glad she'd be able to dry her pants and get warm again.

Without hesitation this time, Olivia offered her hand to help Lukas stand.

 **I always have this deep satisfying feeling of goodness and happiness whenever I finish a chapter. I did not have that feeling this time, because I did not finish. Believe it or not people, this was supposed to be longer but the chapter was getting too long and I had already spent a week writing this chapter, and it was already a week late... so... *shrug* HERE YOU GO!  
Alright people, I can't wait for next chapter! Because then I can officially end episode 1 and start episode 2. 2 will be extremely fun.**

 **Also, sorry about my horrible grammar and spelling. I'm trying to get better.**

 **Well, I believe I've said my piece for this month. On with other stuff!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Abyss101 - Thats who Luke Callestan was supposed to remind you of. Luke from PJO. So sad, Luke. I mean. Thanks for reading my story, I'm glad you like it!**

 **TheAmberShadow - IDEA! IDEA! IDEA! Oh, I love you and your awesome idea! I'm using it, I'll give you credit, of course, but IDEA! I love it! Also, I'm sure you've guessed I'm taking your advice too. Olivia was fun. Also, the risk has been taken. It wont show up fully till later, but it has been taken... God help my soul.**

 **Well I'm done for!  
**

 **See you guys later!**

 **Bye!**

 **-Kayla.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi.**

 **Thank you to, Savannah-the-Caracal, theAmberShadow, LittleAngelbun, and The Srrowful Deity for the reviews. Respondes to Guest will be down bellow.**

 **Disclaimer - Minecraft belongs to Mojang. Story mode belongs to Telltale Games.**

The worst part of the trip wasn't The Nether railroad, it wasn't getting hit with The Wither Storms arm and it wasn't the overwhelming fear when being chased by The Wither. (though that is a close second.) No, for Lukas, the worst part was sitting in that dirt hut. There was nothing wrong per se, it was just awkward. The five of them sitting around the netherrack fire without saying a word, with obvious tension between everyone was a special kind of painful. It hurt the more it dragged on, turning seconds into minutes and minutes into hours.

 _Someone say something_ , Lukas begged to himself. He didn't think he could last another half hour of Axel silently glaring at him, or Olivia's questioning looks in his direction. It quite possibly hurt more than his throbbing bruises.

Lukas was farthest from the fire up against the wall because it was the only position that didn't hurt his front side. (Even though he was slowly growing a sore back.) Reuben rested under his arm and oiked happily as his male owner played with his ears.

Jesse was sitting in front of him next to his feet, to be close to him and to the fire at the same time. (It was really cold. Thank Notch for the jacket.)

Axel was directly across from him, arms crossed and staring directly at the fire.(and again.) Every once and awhile he would up to glare at Lukas before going back to his staring contest with the dancing flames.

Olivia was directly in the middle, on the side, she was sitting closer to Jesse than Axel, but still in the middle nonetheless.

The positions in the hut weren't shocking, it was pretty predictable. The message was clear, the string had been placed down. Axel wanted nothing to do Lukas, Jesse was (more or less) on Lukas side and Olivia was caught in the middle.

This was only going to end one way.

Axel on the other end began to grow restless. He squirmed where he stood, and he tried to hide the soft grumbles under his breath like he himself was in pain. Jesse leaned over to tell Lukas that he got like that when he was hungry and to ignore him.

Axel soon turned around, away from the fire, then began to rustle through his pockets. Soon, his hand emerged with a shout of victory.

Lukas hoped it was a little bit of food.

"What?" Olivia questioned the suddenly excited man. Axel turned around, smiling for the first time that night.

"I'm going to tell you something; you have to promise not to freak out." He told them all.

 _Food_ , Lukas' stomach growled. (not literally.)

Jesse and Olivia shared a look of concern. It almost made Lukas give up hope because if they were worried about Axels' excitement, it most likely not going to be good for the rest of them.

"What is it?" Jesse asked hesitantly. Axel smile widened. He seemed to grow more and more excited as he finally pulled out a single cookie.

Lukas did everything in his power to not smile.

"I have cookies?" Axel smiled. He began to walk around the fire with cookies still in hand. "One for me. One for Olivia. One for Jesse." Axel held a cookie to each person he mentioned; each with their own smile.

Olivia and Jesse took the cookies greedily.

"Thanks, Axel." Jesse smiled up at her friend. Lukas found how she held the cookie like it was sent from Notch himself undeniably cute. Now he wanted a cookie more.

Axel bent down with the fourth cookie and laid it out in front of Reuben.

"And one for Reuben." Lukas tried not to feel upset or angry when Axel started to walk away without giving him a bit of food.

 _Resources are limited_ , he told himself. _We all need to make sacrifices. Besides, they all must be hungrier than I am._

Jesse looked at her at him with a look that made him struggle to put up his walls so she wouldn't see how disappointed he truly was. He must not have hidden his feeling very well because Jesse turned back around and asked, "Got another for Lukas?"

Axel looked glance at Lukas with an unimpressed expression, almost like he didn't care, or was upset someone brought it up.

"Sorry, I only have four." Though Lukas wanted to snap at Axel that he was lying, his tone was truthful. He, most likely, wasn't lying but he knew what he was saying to Lukas anyway.

"It's alright." Lukas lied, he tried to shrug it off as the truth by convincing himself that. It didn't work. "I'm not that hungry anyway. I'll just… grab something in the morning... Or something." He doubted anyone could hear the last part because he shrunk farther against into the floor. He winced back into his previous position because his of his bruises not having mercy on him.

Jesse gave Axel an annoyed look. She set her hand on top of Reuben's head and rubbed behind his ears. Reuben looked up at Jesse, eyes slightly begging.

"Reuben, we both know you don't need the treats," Jesse whispered to her piglet. Reuben oiked once as if to protest the idea.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Lukas tried to assure his girlfriend. Reuben always comes first… "He must be really hungry." Jesse eyed him warningly.

"He's eaten enough cookies this week, we can find some wild carrots for him in the morning." Jesse's tone was final and firm. She handed Lukas her cookie without hesitating, then picked up the cookie in front of Reuben.

The little piglet seemed upset but didn't complain too much.

Lukas was tempted to slyly give Reuben the cookie, it would be the right thing to do. But he was so hungry, and his health was so low.

Lukas scratched Reubens' neck.

"Thank you, Reuben." He whispered. Jesse smiled at the two. She looked happy, just a smidge.

Lukas and Jesse locked eyes for a second. They smiled warmly towards each other, Jesse was almost giggling at how silly the situation was. She turned back to the fireplace a little brighter than when her eyes left it a few seconds before.

Minutes passed and it became silent once again, this time, though, it was warranted; everyone was cherishing their cookies.

Olivia finished her cookie silently. When she was done, she clapped her hands together to get the crumbs off. She gave a quick glance at Lukas and Jesse, her eyes searching for something.

She leaned over to tap the sole of Lukas' shoe, so she had his full attention.

"If you had to, which would you rather fight: a hundred chicken-sized zombies or ten zombie-sized chickens?" Olivia asked with a knowing smile.

Jesse snorted like she found the question funny.

"Choose wisely." Jesse joked. Lukas found his lips turning upright at their kindness. He was so happy Olivia was warming up to him. He was finally doing something right.

Now if only his wounds would shut up.

"That's a good one." Lukas complimented sincerely. It would have been easy to mix the sizes and mobs up. "Let me think." He knew his answer, he just needed a second to clarify that he wasn't thinking about the question incorrectly.

"How can you guys joke at a time like this?" Axel out of nowhere snapped. Reuben jumped a little under his owner's arms. "Petra is still out there. She's all by herself. There's nothing funny about that." Axel turned around again, facing the wall.

Lukas was worried about Petra too. However, if memory serves correctly it wasn't any of _their_ faults that Petra is in danger in the first place! If Axel never took that potion...

Lukas suddenly remembered that he did freeze when his friend needed help.

Maybe they were both to blame for Petras disappearance. Lukas lifted himself the best he could back into a normal sitting position. It hurt more (he felt like throwing up, to be honest) than any other position but Lukas felt like he'd need to do something soon.

"Petra wouldn't mind at all;" Jesse argued. "she'd want us to keep our spirits up." Axel looked the opposite of convinced.

"If I were her, I'd…" His voice was bitter and turned sad as he slowly trailed off. "I dunno. It feels wrong."

Axel was inclined to his feelings and his opinions but it annoyed Lukas that he was trying to force his bad mood onto the rest of them. The awful day they have had was the last thing they wanted to think about. They wanted to relax, they wanted to sleep, and they wanted to joke around so the pain would go away. Figuratively and literally. Why did Axel want to dwell on the parts that they wanted so badly to forget?

Lukas would never get an answer. He didn't expect one. It was Axel after all.

"Fine, then." Lukas didn't feel like arguing with Axel. "Then we should get some rest. We need to find that temple as soon as possible in the morning."

"Yeah." Olivia and Jesse agreed.

It was quiet for a second, and it made Lukas think of the path he saw while the others built the hut.

Lukas didn't know if he should say anything about it, it could be nothing at all.

"Uh," Jesse turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. It gave him enough confidence to say something. "I think I saw a path while you guys were building, so maybe…"

"Whoa," Axel snapped, successfully cutting Lukas off. "what are you doing?" Lukas had no idea how to answer that. How do you answer something without substance?

What was he doing? Sitting, talking. That was about it. What else did Axel want from him? But Axel wanted an answer, and even though he could only stare, Lukas tried his best to give an answer.

"Telling you about a path I saw that may or may not lead to the temple?" Lukas' tone made it more of a question than a statement; it was the only thing he could do.

Jesse sent a warning stare to Axel and said, "He's just trying to help." Lukas bit his lip to keep himself from saying something he knew he was going to regret. However, it didn't stop him from giving Axel a dirty look.

"I'm sorry, Jesse." Axel didn't sound very apologetic. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to this guy telling us what's what."

Lukas never felt so offended, or concerned. He wasn't telling them 'what's what', at least he didn't think he was. He was just trying to help.

Lukas had made many mistakes in his life and he was trying to fix some of them now. If only Axel would throw him a bit of a bone.

"If I did something to you, tell me," Lukas demanded. "I'd like to know. I'm just trying to get ready for tomorrow." Axel's eyes turned hard and cold.

Lukas wondered if he and Axel would ever get along. If there was even another world where they were friends or at least could be in the same room with each other without one or the other snapping at each other.

He was starting to wonder why he bothered trying.

"You're the only one wearing that stupid jacket. Don't tell us what to do." Axel growled.

Axel's insult hit a chord deep inside Lukas. If it were any other jacket then he wouldn't have cared. It wasn't that big a deal and Axel's words would have glided off his back, but this was a jacket he got from Jesses' father. A custom made one, for him and his friends (Oh, who is he kidding, screw his other friends.) and Axel just called it stupid.

He called Jesses father's tailoring stupid.

And Lukas was suddenly pissed.

"Excuse me?"

"What?" Axel mocked. "Want me to take it back?"

"Yes, actually," _He doesn't know_ , Lukas told himself. _Stay calm_. He was anything but calm. "I do, because you don't me or the story behind this 'stupid jacket!"

Axel took a menacing step forward, having his size and weight make up for his lack of fighting skills.

Lukas would have been intimidated if he didn't know that.

"Don't need to. And I wouldn't take it back if you had a sword to my throat!" Axel shouted, loud enough for people valleys away to hear.

Axel flexed his hands like he was getting ready for a reason to throw a punch.

 _Yes, Axel, get ready to throw a punch at a severely injured guy, that's half your size and sitting down! It will show how much of a tough guy you are._

Olivia stood up and put both hands out beside her.

"Guys-" Olivia said, her voice calm and stern.

"Why are you getting on my case for no reason!" Lukas knew cutting Olivia off was rude, but he couldn't just not say what' was on his mind.

Axel snorted.

"No reason?'" He mocked. "Don't make me laugh."

Lukas' stomach was starting to hurt from yelling and moving around too much. It wasn't a good sign...

"I'm trying to be nice here! What do you want from me!" Lukas yelled at Axel.

… he didn't really care anymore. He knew he was going to feel that in the morning.

Axel's eyes went red for a second.

"For you to stop bossing us around!"

"I'm sorry, then why don't you give us a plan of action?" He snapped, a little bit of sarcasm in his tone. "If you can anyway, I mean, it's not like you've been much help on this disaster trip!"

Sometimes Lukas thought Griefers didn't get the credit they deserved because Griefers were smart, really smart. They had to be, or else all griefers would have been arrested and jailed by now. So, Lukas knew that Axel was smart, maybe smarter than all of them, but that didn't mean Axel couldn't be a little dimwitted. Axel hadn't been much help, besides building most of the shelter. Something either of the girls could have done.

"You don't scare me, now that we know how you really are." That hurt, more than it should. He wasn't trying to be hurtful, he just wanted Axel to leave him alone.

"Drop it!" Jesse roared as she stood up. She glared at Axel then at Lukas. She was daring them to say something, anything, else. "Both of you!"

Lukas' felt hot, his face turned red with embarrassment. He felt like a child being scolded by their mother.

"Sorry," Lukas muttered, turning redder by the second.

"Don't be like that, Jesse." Axel sighed. Lukas shot a glare in his direction.

"I said drop it!" Jesse's eyes turned into smaller slits. She looked completely furious.

Axel completely ignored Jesse and continued to walk towards Lukas.

"Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" Axel asked rhetorically, almost like he knew the answer. "Petra might be _dead_ because of you."

"You're taking this too far, Axel." Olivia sounded angry then. She was now just facing Axel, not bothering with Lukas anymore.

Lukas' feelings were hurt, and for a second his eyes stung. He wished he could disagree with Axel, but he couldn't. He _was_ partly to blame.

It _was_ partly his fault. He froze and couldn't save Petra in time.

First, Axel insults the gift he got from his girlfriend's dad, then he gets reminded it's his fault Petra is gone.

Lukas slowly stood. It one of the most painful experiences in his short life, making himself stand, but he rather had just left. He didn't want to deal with Axel anymore, and being inside the hut forced him to be around Axel.

"I don't have to take this, you know," Lukas said, admitting defeat. "How about this; I'll leave. Let you guys hash this out." Reuben got up squealing in protest, he even gripped Lukas pant leg. He let go when Lukas gave him a simple look of 'stop. '

Maybe he could take some leftover wood from the others, and make a pickaxe and crafting table, (not in that order) get a few torches, find a small cave to sleep in. It sounded awful. He didn't have a choice.

"You can't leave!" Olivia stopped him before he could even take a step. "It's dangerous out there like you said!" It was nice of her to try to stop him from leaving, and it made Lukas smile. But he made up his mind at that point.

"Let him leave if he wants to leave." And Axel said that, too.

Before Lukas could make it to the door, Jesse stepped in front of him and grabbed a good chunk of his shirt to keep him from moving any further.

"You sit down!" Jesse looked like she wanted to push Lukas back into his seat, but she must have settled for watching his sit down like a trained wolf. She twisted around and glared at Axel with red, cold eyes. She looked merciless. "You shut up! I have already said drop it, and that means _drop it_. I am not your mother, and I refuse to listen to you two argue!"

For someone who said she wasn't their mother, she did sound like one.

"But, Jesse…" Axel whined, like a bratty kid. Jesse waved her arm to get him to stop.

"You need to _lighten. Up_!" She snapped. "We're all on the same team, now. So he's staying, period! Lukas is trying to help, so why don't you appreciate it!" Jesse turned her wrath back on Lukas. "And you aren't going anywhere, and if you think about taking one foot out that door, I swear to Notch..." Jesse cut herself off. It was quiet once again. The threat from Jesse floating awkwardly in the air.

Olivia and Axel looked confused, they didn't know what Jesse was promising, but Lukas did.

He looked away from her and scooted the rest of the way to his spot. He winced a few times along the way.

Once again, he was so going to feel that in the morning.

Jesse seemed satisfied with the silence and sat down next to him and Olivia scooted closer to him, too. Even Reuben climbed into his lap. Almost like they were protecting him.

It was a little less than two minutes of silence when Lukas' stomach rumbled. It wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear but it was enough for Lukas to hiss a little from the pain it caused.

"Zombie-sized chickens," Lukas answered. Olivia turned her head with a raised eyebrow. "That's what I'd fight."

"Why's that?" She asked. It took Lukas a second to answer because he didn't want to sound needy or rude. In the end, he decided to be honest.

"Because I'm starving."

* * *

It was even later that night. It was so late Lukas half expected for the sun to come peaking up any second. Despite that, and himself, he couldn't make himself fall asleep.

Olivia, Reuben, and Axel had passed out somewhere along the line. Olivia is curled into a ball not too far from Lukas' feet and Axel was snoring across the hut, near the fire.

Reuben fell asleep on Jesse. (who was still up) His soft little grunts and snores were like music, trying to lure Lukas to sleep. It almost worked several times; then there would be a loud groan from a zombie and suddenly his brain said, "screw sleep."

Jesse seemed a bit more in control. She hadn't even started nodding off. she was wide awake and alert. Every few seconds she would scan the room like she was looking for something, and shifted a bit when there was a sound of a monster nearby like she was ready to fight it off. She was a champ if Lukas ever did see one.

Jesse set her hand on his shoulder, the one she was using to stroke Reuben not long before, to get his attention.

"You think they're asleep?" she whispered. She was so quiet, Lukas could barely hear what she was saying. Lukas shifted in his seat to wake himself up a bit more. He didn't really need to look around to see if anyone was asleep, he already thought they were.

"Looks like it." He answered honestly.

Jesse nodded. A little reassurance went a long way, Lukas guessed.

Jesse slowly set her sleeping pig next to her, letting him stir a bit from being moved, before shifting closer to Lukas. Lukas leaned a little towards her, too. It felt nice, the angle helped his chest stop pulsing like water on a beach.

Jesse leaned against him a bit as well. It felt so good to be able to talk without the others listening in. It would have been better to be completely alone, without another soul only a few blocks away, but this would have to do.

Lukas set his head on Jesse's shoulder, his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. He wasn't asleep. He probably looked it but he wasn't.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper." He muttered shamefully. While he wouldn't apologize for what he said, because he was being truthful, he was upset with himself for getting as mad as he got. Jesse didn't deserve to see them fight. Let alone be the one to break them up.

"I personally think you handled it well." What did he do to deserve Jesse? Why did she refuse to yell at him, no matter what he did? What exactly did she gain from trying to make him feel better about himself?

"I was out of line." He countered.

"So was Axel."

"I still feel horrible."

"Why?" She started playing with his hair a bit. Lukas paused for a second.

"I'm trying, Jesse," He replied. "I'm really trying to befriend them, but it's so hard. Olivia is okay but Axel is so… infuriating." Jesse hummed. Was Lukas hearing things, or did Jesse just agree with him?

"Yeah, Axel can be, but he'll come around. I know he will." Jesse pushed Lukas off of her and switched positions. Now she was leaning on him, not that he was complaining.

"What if he doesn't?" 'Always the pessimist,' Jesse tells him a lot. He prefers to be called realistic, a person who weighs all their options but he saw how Jesse could think he's a pessimist.

"Don't worry about that," Jesse sighed. "just give him space." He looked down at his girlfriend with a thankful smile. Did he deserve her, probably not? But that just made him all the luckier and determined to tolerate (at the least) Axel. No matter how annoying he was.

Lukas continued to look at Jesse for a few more minutes, after a bit he started to wonder if she fell asleep. He whispered her name to see if she was still up.

"What?" she asked him, most definitely still awake. Lukas took a second to figure out a question to ask her.

"Do you think Petra is okay?" He decided to ask. Jesse didn't even hesitate.

"She's a smart girl, I'm sure she'll be fine." He hoped so.

Jesse turned her head to look back up at him.

"How's your stomach?" Lukas moved to the side a bit, not hiding his wince as he moved his jacket to the side. She eyed a small rip in his shirt, before looking at the small sliver of skin he revealed to her.

Her eyes turned a bit red before going back to normal. The skin she saw, though it was not much, was bruised and sick looking. Even he had to admit to himself it looked just as bad as he felt.

"We need to find a healing potion as soon as we get to the temple," she muttered to herself.

"I'm fine, Jesse." It looked horrible, but it could have been worse. At least he hoped it could be worse. If it was the worse it could get, then he was in so much trouble.

"The Nether you are." Jesse spat.

"Jesse…." Lukas tried using a warning tone.

"Either your blind or we're seeing two _very_ different things," She cut him off before he could even think about continuing. "because it looks really bad to me."

"It'll heal without a potion." He argued.

"Not soon enough." Right, they were on the run from a mountain-sized monster. Him being this hurt with that monster on the loose was a death sentence

He sighed.

"I appreciate your concern…"

"Then don't finish that sentence." Jesses' eyes were pleading for him to just stop arguing with her. In the end, Lukas was tired. Jesse was tired, they both didn't feel like talking about it anymore. He nodded.

"Okay." And it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

* * *

The morning sun rose less than two hours later, killing all the undead mobs that weren't hidden by shade and causing the giant spider's eyes to become poor. It was finally safe (safe enough) to venture into the forest surrounding the small hut.

Despite the groups plan to wake up and find the temple at dawn, none of them woke up at dawn. The majority continued to sleep for half an hour more because of how exhausted they were.

The first to wake up was Jesse, and that was only because Reuben woke minutes before from an empty stomach. She looked around the room at everyone still sleeping, got up, motioned to Reuben to follow and dragged her feet out of the hut and into the woods. Reuben followed obediently behind.

Axel and Olivia woke up about twenty minutes later. The hut was starting to become unbearably hot and humid. Olivia (who was the first to wake up) stood on shaking legs and stretched a bit. As she stretched noticeable pops filled the room.

Axel stood up next and smothered the fire on the netherrack to bring the heat in the hut back down.

It took only minutes to see that Jesse and Reuben were missing.

The two friends quickly woke Lukas up as gently as they could, so they don't disturb his wounds. Lukas didn't need to be told that Jesse was gone, the fact that Olivia and Axel were waking him up was enough for him to tell.

Olivia helped him up. His wounds felt worse than the day before, so much worse than the day before,(not to mention the ringing in his ear) but that was to be expected. It wasn't easy to walk, but it wasn't too difficult. At least, that's what he told himself.

As Lukas, Olivia and Axel walked out of the hut and into the forest, they began to call out to their missing friends. Axel and Olivia were both equally concerned, but then there was Lukas...

Lukas knew Jesse (arguably) the most, he remembered that she told Reuben she'd find carrots for him in the morning. Jesse always tried to keep her promises. He was concerned but he had confidence in her enough to know she was most likely safe. At least, he hoped so. He was forcibly pushing the overprotective side of him down.

She was fine, and they were far away from the Witherstorm and they weren't in The Nether, riding in a minecart over an ocean of lava. Jesse was just finding food… most likely.

 _Breath_ , he told himself. _Breath_

They continued to call out their missing companions names. In mere minutes, they heard someone shout, "Over here!" Jesse was found between two giant oak trees with leaves in her hair and Reuben next to her feet. The little piglet had a small bundle of carrots between his teeth.

"Where The Nether were you two?" Axel asked curiously. Jesse pursed her lip.

"Picking apples?" She questioned, bring out a couple of apples from her inventory. "and carrots?" Reuben oiked and showed off the carrots in his mouth. Jesse went around handing out an apple to each person like she was giving everyone a peace offering.

Olivia and Axel looked at their apples then at Jesse with serious expressions.

"I wouldn't advise you do that again," Olivia said sincerely. Jesse shrugged.

"Especially in the woods, monsters thrive here, even in the day." Lukas silently thanked his girlfriend for the fruit. "Just so you know, for next time." Jesse rolled her eyes before she nodded. She turned on her heels and began to walk in a completely different direction from where Lukas, Olivia, and Axel came from. She called for them to follow her, saying she found a destroyed, overgrown path not too far away.

They followed her to the rocky disgrace of a decade old path. The small group decided to travel up the slope in hopes it will lead somewhere.

Lukas was the last one in the line with his hands leaning against a wall that was right up against the overgrown rumble of a path. Olivia, Axel, and Jesse were slowly getting farther and farther ahead of him.

He stopped in his tracks and took a few deep breaths. He tilted his head up to stare up at the sky. It took a second for Lukas to start thinking about how odd the wall was. It was a flat, steep wall, but it was, without doubt, a part of a small hill, with vines growing on it. It was an odd detail. Why would they not just destroy the whole hill? It looked like they destroyed the rest on the left side.

It was almost like they were... trying to hide something.

Lukas pushed off the wall and backed up; he almost fell against a tree, yet somehow kept his balance. Just over the top of the top block on the mound of stone and dirt, was the roof of a giant building.

"Olivia! Axel! Jesse!" Lukas called to his colleagues far ahead. "I think I see something… up there." He pointed at what he saw. Olivia and Jesse came running while Axel seemed a bit more hesitant but he jogged over.

Olivia looked at where Lukas was pointing which enabled him to finally put his arm down. Without saying a word, the two girls began to climb the vines to reach the top. Axel wasn't far behind the two of them.

Reuben was the only one who stayed behind with Lukas, who walked in literal circles around Lukas. The boy had little idea why the little piglet seemed so attached to him lately.

"You think this is the place?" Lukas heard Axel ask. He looked up to see Jesse bringing something out of her inventory.

"Look at the stained glass." She responded. The three friends chatted amongst each other quietly. Lukas couldn't hear them anymore because the wind decided to pick up speed and the slight ringing in his ears seemed to grow a little stronger.

"Good eye, Lukas!" said boy jumped at his name being called. "You might want to take a different way though. I don't think any of us want you to get any more hurt." Olivia smiled encouragingly down at him and Jesse gave him a thumbs up. He felt joy bubble in his stomach at the fact Olivia seemed to like him now.

Axel nodded in approval. It was something at least.

"Okay." Lukas nodded. He patted his thigh for Reuben to follow and went back down the way he came. He found the start of the hill and quickly climbed to the top… well as quick as he could.

By the time he found the temple again, the others were inside and looking around the first room. It was bare with only a few notable things. A small statue, desks, and books scattered on the floor or tipped over. The actual walls and ceiling were boring as well, just stone brick, without a different block in sight. It looked like a dungeon cell, but darker somehow.

"Have you already looked around?" Lukas asked when he (severely) limped in, noting the long, large, hallway.

"No, we waited for you," Jesse said truthfully. Neither Olivia or Axel protested anything different.

Reuben oiked their shared thanks. He then began to walk towards the hallway.

"So, this is the temple?" Lukas asked for clarification. It seemed to be but it wouldn't be the first people came across a copycat building or just a random building in the forest.

"As far as we can tell," Olivia answered. She didn't seem to doubt that this was the temple by the sound of her voice. It was good enough for Lukas.

When they entered the hallway they all took note of the dispensers that lined the walls.

"Isn't it weird how dispensers are carved to look like little faces?" Axel snickered. "What do you dispense, little guy?" It was less relieving and more disturbing. It was kind of Axel to try.

"I get the feeling that we don't really wanna find out." Olivia shivered along with Lukas.

"We should look out for any trip wires or pressure pla-" Lukas never got to finish his second of advanced high school classes knowledge that seemed to be popping up more and more the longer they were on this suicide mission, because Reuben, Jesse, and Olivia stepped on a pressure plate. A wooden one for the love of Notch, too.

The group stopped in their tracks as the room filled itself with creaks and groans. Reuben was shaking so hard he almost fell over.

"That's probably not a good thing." Olivia's voice shook. There was a loud clunk behind them with by far the loudest groan and snap; a gate closed behind them. There was no escaping except forward.

"Guys, we should run." Lukas knew he was stating the obvious and he didn't care.

"Come on dispenser faces! I thought we were friends." Axel complained uselessly. The clicking began to slow down. Never, ever a good thing

"Run!" Jesse and Lukas screamed together full of panic. Jesse grabbed his hand and ran down the hall dragging him behind at top speed. Axel picked up squealing Reuben and shouted his prayers as he took off after them. Olivia was surprisingly the slowest to move but the ran the fastest down the hall.

The dispensers were unsurprisingly lethal; firing arrows one after another at top speed. The group barely managed to avoid any of them and didn't know what they would do if they were to get hit by one.

By some miracle, none of them got hit by the arrows. They all instead managed to get to a space in the middle of the hallway. It was four by four blocks mini room without dispensers. It didn't lead anywhere and had nothing but a single crafting table on the side. Lukas collapsed onto the crafting table. His breaths were jagged and the pain was eating at him alive. He swears that he only saw black for a second when he sat down at the table.

"We're trapped!" Olivia exclaimed. Though to Lukas, it was a bit muffled. It was true, the room was apart of the hallways, a break, a decorative piece with no purpose. After the room was more hallway and more dispensers shooting arrows.

"I said to make sure to not step on a pressure plate!" Lukas spat as scornfully as he could at no one in particular. He didn't remember who stepped on the pressure plate, he just wanted them to know what they had done.

"You stepped on it!" Axel shouted indignantly. Jesse raised a single finger in the air.

"Actually Reuben, Olivia and I were the ones who stepped on it." She mumbled meekly, turning bright red. Reuben kicked at the ground by his feet in shame as well.

Lukas wasn't happy with the confession, Jesse should've known better.

"I don't think we have time to argue. We need to figure out how to get out of here." Olivia made a 'calm down' motion with her hands. Lukas stifled a moan.

This place needs to have a potion.

"We activated the dispensers…" Lukas winced. "with that pressure plate. If we can figure out a way to trigger... it again, I bet that will shut them off… hopefully." Lukas said, somehow without whining.

"We have a crafting table. We might be able to make something useful." Olivia pointed out.

"Empty your pockets then. Let's see if we can craft anything." Jesse urged them all to move quickly. Everyone picked through their inventories into anything that might be craftable and threw it all into a small pile.

None of them had much, all their supplies were left at home or back in useless piles in the hut or around the forest.

"String, flint, feathers, and sticks. I don't think we can make anything out of this!" Axel mourned their useless luck.

"Faith, Axel, faith," Jesse advised as she picked it all up and headed to the table. She started placing random items like the string in random slots.

"And how do we know that it doesn't take hitting something like a lever to stop them?" Axel crossed his arms at his question, waiting for an answer.

Lukas and Olivia shared a look. It was more of a struggle for Lukas but he managed.

"... if it doesn't work, which is highly likely, to be honest, then we have to wait for the dispensers to run out of arrows." He answered for Axel.

"What do you mean it's most likely not gonna work?"

"Redstone clocks." Lukas and Olivia said hollowly together.

"Complicated things." Olivia shook her head.

" _Messy_ , complicated things," Lukas added. Redstone clocks were easy to break; practically only usable once if you didn't know what you were doing. If you press a button or lever twice then the whole Redstone track lights up. No matter how many times you flick the lever on or off or press the button, the Redstone will stay light up forever unless you manually break the trail and reset it. The fear wasn't that the Redstone would break, no, no, no. the fear was it was Ellegaard who made the trap and knew _exactly_ was she was doing. The greatest Redstone engineer could have easily made the circuit impossible to break. It wouldn't have been surprising at all.

Axel's face turned sour, almost like he himself had bad experiences with Redstone clocks. It wouldn't be the least bit surprising. He looked he was about to tell Olivia and Lukas his story on a malfunctioning clock when Jesse interrupted him.

"Before you guys get into the ins and outs of a Redstone clock, I would like to shut it off…" She sounded awfully cocky for someone who just heard that it might not even work in the slightest. She took a freshly made wooden bow and three arrows off of the crafting table; quickly pocketing two of the arrows. " let's see if I can still fire a decent arrow."

Jesse set the arrow in place on the bow and drew her arm back. She looked nervous and a little scared. She hadn't shot an arrow since she was in school and back then she wasn't that good, decent, but not good.

With only three chances of firing Lukas was worried at the troublesome situation.

Jesse fired her first arrow. Everyone held their breaths as they watched the arrow fly in the hallway.

Sadly, the first arrow got struck by another mid-air and fell to the ground.

Jesse cursed herself under her breath while she pulled her second arrow out. She was quicker in setting this one in place and firing.

The group held their breath a second time watching the arrowhead straight for the wooden pressure plate. Much to their collective joy, the arrow hit the pressure plate across the hall. In an instant, a loud groan and creak shook the halls; the arrows stopped firing.

For a second, everyone was silent due to their shock.

"Wooo!" Axel shouted, breaking the silence, his hands thrown in the air. He threw both arms around Jesse, he was so excited.

"Great job, Jesse!" Olivia cheered while Reuben squealed excitedly.

All Lukas did was smile lightly, and said, "I can't believe that worked!" It was the only thing he needed to say.

Axel let Jesse go so she could help Lukas back to feet. Axel started laughing.

"Looks like The Dead Enders luck is changing!" He exclaimed. Lukas chuckled under his breath at the other mans' antics. It was… definitely, something, knowing they've come so far from the morning before.

The room at the end of the hall was a weird one. It was another cluttered place, filled from floor to ceiling with broken bookcases in a familiar maze-like shape. There were books littered across the floor uselessly, some even with mold growing on the pages; others looked like they'd been mauled or chewed on. Sickeningly, dust blanketed the floor like grey snow. Lukas felt bugs in his hair and dirt on his skin just by looking at the place.

"What is this?" Axel gritted. He tiptoed over the floor, making tracks in the dust on the floor. He must have been having the hardest time because of his cursed sandals.

"Their enchantment room, by the looks of it." Lukas coughed. He stepped over a few disintegrating books on the floor with his girlfriend holding him up.

She had him lean against a rickety bookcase so she could look around. He watched her step over a shelf, through a gaping hole in the whole case.

"Hey! A healing potion!" Jesse eminently exclaimed. Reubens happy squeal lifted the creepy factor of the room.

"Thank Notch, they had one." Olivia breathed thankfully.

Lukas sighed, he was extremely relieved. The pain only seemed to grow every minute he existed, and it was growing harder to stay standing. How did he manage to get through The Nether like this? How did he fall asleep like this? What was he thinking last night when he thought about leaving last night?

How The Nether did he manage to run down that damn hallway?

His ears felt like they were going to pop any second and it didn't help that the others were talking so _loud_. Or was that just him?

"Hey, is it just me, or does this place look like Ivor's creepy basement?" Axel screeched.

Jesse came back through the hole with two healing potions in hand. She uncorked one and tipped the opening towards Lukas' mouth.

He drank the first potion like a dying man in the desert who just found an oasis.

"It does…" Olivia shouted. Lukas' ears stopped ringing, he could feel his chest healing and he did feel better.

Jesse had him drink the second. He felt even better than before. He didn't feel like his insides were being butchered and cooked anymore; however, he still felt sick. He felt like when you know you are in for a long couple days of a cold or flu. The aches, scratchy throat and nose that can easily be dismissed as allergies. Why did he still feel sick?

"Feeling better?" Jesse asked. Lukas shook his head, an awful mistake as he suddenly went light headed.

Maybe he just needed to be patient. Though, a delay wasn't something a health potion was known for.

"It'll take a second to take effect. I'll be okay though…" Lukas muttered. He turned his head to the side, deciding maybe the books could take his mind off things. "What do we have here?"

Our Dreams was the title, written by a person Lukas couldn't read the name of. He'd never heard of it and the title was simple, yet intriguing.

He took the book off the shelve and carefully cracked the water stained pages of the poor book opened.

"Found something?" Jesse asked him. Lukas skimmed a few lines. It was a miracle the book wasn't falling apart.

It all started in an abandoned witches hut. None of us knew the others used the little hut to hide from the outside world, as well as ourselves. We thought we were alone. Until Soren started building...

"Not really useful but this looks interesting," Lukas answered. It was like a diary, it looked like one, but it wasn't that. It wasn't an autobiography either. It was too… quick paced. It was like whoever was writing this was just writing down their life for themselves, not for others. A way to process things, almost. "Either way, there is a lot of history in the room."

Jesse nodded, not questioning a thing he said, or asking to see what the book said.

"I'll look around." She got up and began to explore.

When the couple was talking, Olivia, Reuben, and Axel began to wander around themselves. Everyone was spread out around the small room, none of them making a sound.

Lukas kept skimming the pages of the book he found; it was interesting like he expected. And while the book was thin, and it didn't give a lot of details, you ended up learning a lot about The Order. First off, it was written in Gabriel's point of view, a very young Gabriel by the look of it.

His concentration on his book was interrupted by Jesse saying something out loud. Her voice was muffled and he couldn't make out what she was saying but he heard her anyway. He closed the book with care and headed in his girlfriend's direction.

"-saving the land, and assuring that peace would reign forever." Jesse read off a book that floated above an enchantment table, Reuben next to her. The book they used must have been another book similar to his.

"Well, not exactly forever." Lukas snarked. Jesse rolled her eyes. Axel entered the area, he seemed confused at first. But he quickly understood what they were talking about.

"These…" she paused and furrowed her eyebrows. "five members… five friends, together, would give so much to gain their rightful place as five heroes." Olivia made her way through a few holes in a few bookcases, up the stone brick platform to listen to Jesse read.

"Five…" Lukas questioned. He opened his book up and flipped through a few pages.

We finally met each other, after months of speaking to each other through nothing by what items we brought for the others to find after we left and poorly written notes. We finally had names for the friends we could only imagine existing. Ellegaard, Soren, Magnus, and Ivor.

Bellow that, was a drawn picture of five children, they were sitting a circle around each other, laughing. (Whoever drew this clearly had talent if they did it from memory, alone.) You saw each of their faces and it was easy to figure out who was who. The girl one in the corner with a book in their lap was Ellegaard. The one next to her with… gunpowder, (most likely) all over their face and a sour look on Magnus. The one next to Magnus with feather, ink, and paper was Soren. Then there was Gabriel, he was the only one with a worn out leather helmet.

Then there was the other one next to Ellegaard. He was smiling, one leg across the other as he leaned back on the palms of his hands. There was books, paper, feathers, ink and a tipped over brewing stand left forgotten next to him. It would've been hard making him out if Lukas never met him.

"They would author their own end. They would slay a dragon." Jesse continued.

"Guys..." Lukas turned his book for everyone to look at the picture inside. Axel and Jesses' eyes went wide while Olivia full on gasped. Even Reuben let out a surprised oik.

"Ivor was a member of the Order of the Stone?!" Olivia shouted.

"The stories never mentioned him," Jesse muttered, she put her fingers against her mouth. She looked to be resisting the urge to bite her dirt-stained nails.

"They lied to us! They lied to the whole world!" Olivia went on frantically. It was the first time Lukas had ever seen her angry. It didn't last long but it didn't make it any less scary.

"This is so… crazy." Lukas mumbled. He turned the book back to him and continued to skim the pages.

"Why would they do this?" Axel questioned softly. Jesse scowled at the book on the enchantment table like she wanted to tear it apart.

"The Order might not be what we thought they were," Jesse's voice was dark and hollow. She was thinking very hard. "but Petra is still out there. We need to focus on what we came here to do." Jesse turned on her heels to face everyone.

"I just… can't believe it." Lukas whispered. He skimmed a few more pages, then closed the book. He'll keep it to look at later.

"None of us can." Olivia agreed. Reuben oiked sadly.

"Where do these stairs go?" Axel pointed to the stairs he mentioned next to him. They were stone stairs leading up to the next floor. They were dusty and old, they didn't look very safe.

"Only one way to find out." Jesse moved past everyone so she could be the first to climb the stairs.

They skipped the second floor and went straight to the top.

The top floor was one giant room, with holes in the floor and the ceiling nonexistent. There were more bookshelves next to the broken walls, posters hanging by threads on the walls. There was a map of the world on a wall that somehow managed to survive the test of time with stained glass windows on either side. There was no dust because the wind acted like a duster.

"Now this is awesome." Axel turned in a circle to admire the whole building. Lukas didn't know how a destroyed building could be 'awesome.' Then he remembered that Axel was a griefer. Anything that was destroyed must've been cool to him.

"I would agree if I wasn't wondering what happened to the walls." Lukas countered despite his earlier knowledge. Axel rolled his eyes.

Lukas opened his book back up to read again.

Olivia said something that he didn't catch and he didn't care, he found something far more interesting.

It took years of hard work, but that Witches hut turned into a real building. One that would later grow to become our famous temple.

"This was where they met," Lukas said aloud.

"How'd you get that idea?" Olivia asked. It was a bit far-fetched.

"This book. I've only been skimming it, but it's… like a summary of there lives. It's from Gabriel's point of view. The first couple of pages talk about how they met. Then they built a house of sorts to meet in and it grew into… this. This area seems to mean a lot to them." Lukas turned a few more pages.

"Does it say where they are, then?" Axel asked.

"It is a really old book, but if it does say where they are, I haven't gotten that far."

Jesse hummed as she circles around the room.

"Gabriel said that the amulet would lead us to The Order of the Stone, once we found the temple." Jesse pulled out the amulet she was talking about; a gold ring with different jewels leading to the center. A diamond piece, iron piece, emerald piece, Redstone piece and a lapis piece in the very center.

Jesse held it above her head, shook it and even tried hitting it to make it do… anything.

"Is… something supposed to happen?" Olivia questioned. She took the amulet from Jesse to examine it herself.

"I don't know." Jesse shrugged.

"Did Gabriel give you instructions?" Axel asked next.

"No. There's gotta be something we're missing."

Lukas flipped to the back of the book. In the last few pages was a picture of the amulet.

Ellegaard and Soren had been working in secret together for weeks. The attic was also off-limits to the rest of us. Ivor, Mangus and I could only guess what the two smartest people on the map were doing up there, and we only grew more curious the more stuff they carried up there and junk they threw out. 

Months went by when Soren and Ellegaard called for us to head to the attic. When we got there, it had been renovated into a giant meeting hall. Soren showed off the amulet to us while he gave us the tour. He finally showed us what it was for, to locate where everyone was, at any given time.

"This says the amulet was used to teach the positions of the members." Lukas walked over to Jesse to show her.

"Does it mention how?" Axel asked. He sounded genuinely curious, for once.

"It's less technical and more historical. Again, its a summary; something you'd find in a textbook." Olivia and Axel shared a look.

"What's a textbook?" Olivia and Axel asked together. In response, Lukas and Jesse looked at each other. Lukas has horrible flashbacks of school, homework and high school teachers. He would rather forget those years of textbooks and notes.

"Don't worry about it." Lukas and Jesse answered Jesse waved her friends off.

"Why don't we just look around," Jesse asked. The group spread out to see if they could find something that will help them figure everything out.

Lukas leaned against this weird statue next to the stairs. It had a poster with the amulet on it and a fenced circle above. It looked like some sort of weird shrine.

Lukas was searching for answers in his book, the weirdly fascinating book. He couldn't read it completely, as that would take too much time, but he could skim the words and skip pages to the basics of each short story.

Jesse and Reuben came by together and they exchanged a few words. Keyword on 'few.' Jesse took one look at the poster next to Lukas and called Axel over to look.

"It's the amulet," Jesse told the boys, motioning to the poster. Lukas didn't know how it would be helpful. Could it be a hint?

Jesse took the amulet out and set it on top of the statue, between the fences. Lukas thought that was a bit strange.

"I found a ton of levers back here," Olivia shouted from across the stair entrance. She was standing behind a quartz desk, of sorts, that had five levers attached to every other block and a Redstone lamp in front.

Within moments the group was crowded around the levers. Olivia pulled a few levers and watched as some of the stained glass next to the map lit up and went out she pulled. She pulled all the levers and only a few lights were lit.

"It's a puzzle." Lukas croaked. For the first time since he was in middle school, his voice cracked and he had a short coughing fit. Jesse gave him a weird look. So he wouldn't concern her, or Reuben, he mouthed "dust." He wasn't sure that was it.

Reuben rubbed his head against Lukas' leg as comfort.

Olivia tried multiple combinations on the lever puzzle, but the lights wouldn't all light up like they were supposed to.

Axel turned to Lukas.

"Got anything in that book." He asked. Lukas sighed.

"I will not repeat this again, it's historical. A summary. It doesn't give details. And even then, I'm only skimming it. I can't read a hundred and fifty-page book in ten minutes!" Lukas said exasperatedly. He opened the book anyway so he could double check. As expected, nothing.

"Don't worry. I got this." Olivia huffed confidently. She watched the lights as she pulled and switched levers in different combinations.

Lukas watched along with her.

"Try that lever first." Lukas pointed to the second one in. "Then the next one." Olivia tried and looked at the glass in front of her.

"Oh, I see…" Olivia nodded, she switched the ones on the side towards her and flicked another forward.

Lukas heard a crack and few weird noises. The Redstone lamp on the front of the quartz desk sputtered and suddenly turned on. A beam of light shot out from the lamp and through the amulet. The amulet admitted two lights onto the map. One red, the other green.

"Woah." Axel's eyes were wide with complete amazement. It was spectacular. Lukas blinked at the sight before him. He had never seen anything like it, and deep down it ended up bothering him.

"This looks impossible," Lukas told his friends.

"What type of Redstone went into this thing!" Olivia exclaimed. She looked like she was ready to tear the building apart for every trail of Redstone that went into making this impossible structure. She was like a savage dog in need of water and food.

"The magical kind," Lukas answered bluntly. The beam of light that the Redstone lamp was shooting out looked like a beacon beam, which was impossible and the two lights that the amulet was admitting didn't seem possible, either. Maybe he was just stupid, but this didn't look like something two people could do on their own.

"Lighten up! This is amazing!" Jesse punched his shoulder to get him to shut up.

"I'm sorry, but how on the map did Soren and Ellegaard build this!" Lukas threw his hands in the air. The others ignored him.

"I don't care, I'm impressed." Olivia ran around the desk to the map. They took a second to take the whole map in. The two lights were right across the map from each other. One on one side, in a desert. The other was on the other side, on an island.

"So if this is what Gabriel wanted us to find the Order, and Lukas said the amulet helps find the Order… that just means this is a tracking device. It's showing where they all are right now!" Jesse seemed really excited to have figured it out. Lukas didn't dare discourage her from saying he already knew.

He took another long look at the map.

"Well, we actually don't know enough about this thing works." Lukas pointed out to her, like the realistic (or pessimistic, in Jesse's case) person he was. "Maybe it only tracks them when they're on the surface. Or maybe it doesn't work when they are in the Nether. Basically, we have to go off what we do know." Jesse deflated and growled a bit before she stopped herself. She nodded.

"There are only two lights on the map. If there are only two heroes left than we know what we need to do. Petras relying on us. That Witherstorm is still out here."

"Two lights," Axel cut in, sounding concern. "two members of the Order left?" Jesse pointed at the map.

"Soren is missing, Gabriel is… who knows where. Which leaves Magnus, who I bet is green and Ellegaard, who's red. We need to get one of them." Jesse guessed.

"I think Lukas should stay. He's still healing and everything." Olivia observed. Lukas was still a little pale and was clearing his throat every few minutes like a person with a sore throat.

Lukas again wondered how that was possible if he took two healing potions.

"I'll be okay with staying here and waiting for Petra. She's probably doing everything she can to find this place. I can also help fortify this place. Make it safe before nightfall." Lukas agreed. He was probably going to stay anyway.

"One of us should stay behind and help you out," Olivia added kindly. Jesse's eyes got a little brighter at the fact Olivia seemed to like Lukas now. Jesse raised her hand, like a student back in class.

Lukas said he wanted to forget his school days, why did she have to raise her hand!?

"I can stay." Jesse volunteered eagerly. Lukas breathed a sigh, a little time alone would be nice.

Her two friends completely ignored her.

"You can stay behind, then, Olivia. Jesse and I will go out to find Magnus." Axel threw an arm around Jesse.

"Find Magnus?" Olivia scoffed. She pulled Jesse out of Axel's grip. "Who we need Ellegaard. She's the greatest engineer. She'll figure out a way to stop that thing."

"We're trying to destroy it, and when it comes to destruction, Magnus is the master!"

"The obvious choice is to go after Ellegaard!"

"You mean Magnus?"

The two continued to bicker aimlessly. Jesse tried to say something about her wanting to stay, but she was always ignored. She sighed a bit and leaned closer to Lukas.

"So, looks like I've been elected to go." She whispered to him.

"It's probably the best option," he said, trying to hide how he was slightly upset at the news. "Who are you going with?"

"As much as I love Magnus, I always had a deeper respect for Ellegaard, but as much as I want to see Ellegaard, I don't want to leave you with Axel." Lukas shivered. That would be a nightmare.

He hid the shiver by clearing his throat.

"As much as Axel and I argue I'm sure we would just split up and do our own separate work. If you want to go after Ellegaard, then go ahead." Lukas smiled encouragingly. Jesse scoffed, she wasn't fooled by him.

She took another peek at the map.

"Magnus does seem to be closer, though." Lukas looked and shrugged.

"I'd go with Magnus." Jesse looked at him, shocked.

"Why's that?" Lukas smiled softly. He knew that area on the map.

"By the looks of it, he's in Boom Town. It's a griefers paradise and criminals hideout." Jesse went slack for a second and her jaw dropped. She didn't expect that. Lukas chuckled. "It's the closest town to Sahara City." He explained.

He knew that part of the map like the back of his hand. Jesse looked at Ellegaards part of the map and her eyes went sad.

Ellegaards island was close to Oak City. Lukas knew that area all too well at his point too.

Jesse's eyes went back to serious and she turned back to her arguing friends.

"Guys, will you stop arguing! I heard enough arguing to last me a lifetime!" she shouted at them. The two stopped without questioning why. They both looked at Jesse, expecting her to answer who they were going after.

"I'm going with Olivia," Jesse said sternly. A few seconds went by of them processing the information.

"Aww man." Axel cursed. He kicked the ground, then crossed his arms.

"Yes!" Olivia shouted she hugged Jesse excitedly.

"Come on Jesse! You love Magnus!" Axel whined. Jesse rolled her eyes, slightly amused.

"As much as I love Magnus, I recognize Redstonias terrain and culture more. And maybe you and Lukas can learn to tolerate each other while we are gone." Axel scowled at the supposed insult.

He huffed, "I guess, but I'm only doing this for Petra." Jesse nodded as if to say that was all she wanted.

"You won't regret leaving us here," Lukas promised. Jesse snorted.

"I better." the underlying threat she promised was a little more terrifying than it should've been.

Right, when Lukas was beginning to think that everything was starting to go right, the ground began to shake violently; only for a second. A horrible second.

Olivia looked out of the gaping hole in the ceiling of the top floor in the Order of the Stones temple.

"Uhh, guys…" Her voice sounded worried, scared, nervous and everything else in between.

"That's impossible," Jesse whispered because out on the horizon, the barest seen silhouette of The Witherstorm was flying across the landscape; eating everything in its path.

Lukas gripped Jesse's arm, so she would look at him.

He begged, "Jesse, please hurry."

 **This took forever, but its finally done. Episode one is done! YES!**

 **Thank you guys so much for sticking through the first episode, you guys are amazing. I love you. Now its midnight over where I am and I am so tired. sorry for grammar and spelling.**

 **Responses.**

 **Little AngelBun, thank you. You are amazing. I appreciate your reviews.**

 **TheAmbershadow - thank you for letting me use them! Everything is better with a pig. I had fun writng Olivias POV. Thank you, I was nervous about lukas at first but I think I'm doing okay. the ages will come up soon, but I am making them older than most people write. Most think they are teenagers which is... no. thank you so much for the review.**

 **Bye.**

 **-Kayla**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi.**

 **Thank you to Miragold123, TheAmberShadow and The Sorrowful Diety for your reviews. You guys helped me out a lot writing this chapter. More than I can ever explain.**

 **Disclaimer - I own nothing.**

 **POV JESSE**

By mid-afternoon, almost everything was ready for the girls to head off on their journey for the legendary engineer, except for one thing… Lukas had found it, which is why he called Jesse (alone with Reuben) into a weird part of the library, that almost It's encased them with shelves and books, with only one tiny exit and a small desk shoved in the corner.

The young blond held a folded piece of paper out for his girlfriend to take.

"I found the map for you and Olivia," He whispered. It was the map with the correct railway track to Redstonia. It was a great relief for Jesse, they wouldn't have to hop from track to track just to fail to find the right one.

"Thanks," Jesse looked down at the map of the Nether, with dozens of railroads scattered across the chunk but only one edge with the words "Redstonia" at the end. She smiled up at Lukas as further thanks. Her smile faltered when she saw Lukas coughing slightly into his sleeve. "Are you okay? You don't look too good." Lukas quickly stopped and cleared his throat.

"I'm fine, Jesse," He assured weakly. "Just… drinking two potions at the same time might not have been the best idea." She raised an eyebrow.

"What are the consequences?"

"Nothing fatal, just side effects that resemble a minor cold. I'll be fine within the hour." Even he didn't sound too sure, making Jesse even more suspicious. She wanted him to spit out what he knew was wrong with him, but there was nothing she could do.

"If you're sure," Her tone was doubtful, clear that she didn't believe a word he said.

"I am sure," Lukas sounded more confident this time, barely. "I might not be an alchemist or a doctor, but I know my stuff." Jesse scanned his paling face for any indication he was lying.

"Okay," He seemed truthful, to a degree… Regardless, Jesse gave Lukas a quick peck on his lips. It would most likely be their last for a while.

"JESSE!" Olivia yelled somewhere in the library. Jesse sighed, hugging herself while she looked down at her feet.

"Time for me to leave," Jesse stored the map in her inventory. Lukas looked sad to have her leave as well. The two shared a hug, then Jesse was on her way with Reuben out of the weird part of the library. "Be safe, don't kill each other," Jesse advised before she left, referencing Axel. Lukas nodded.

"Promise."

When she left Jesse couldn't find Olivia in the library, so she went to where she last saw Olivia at the front of the temple. The other girl wasn't anywhere to be seen, so she decided to wait for her. As she waited, Reuben tugged on her pant leg to grab her attention. He was ready for this adventure too.

However, Jesse had other plans.

"Okay, Reuben," Jesse bent down to his level. "you're gonna stay here with Lukas…" Reuben oiked in protest, pushing his way into her arms. "I know, I know you want to come, but there's something wrong with Lukas, and you need to watch him for me. Okay?"

Reuben thought about it, before oiking in agreement now that he knew he had a mission.

"Good." Jesse rubbed his ears just as Olivia entered the area with Axel. "I'll be back soon."

* * *

The track that leads to Redstonia was harshly labeled "Track 57." Why the Order named each track after a number was beyond her. It was so inefficient, and worse it made her nervous. The lines of tracks she and Olivia passed never went above the number 25, and the only one she saw above 25 was "track 72" the one that was made (most likely) by Magnus and nearly gave them all heart attacks.

"Being on this track makes me nervous!" Jesse shouted over the polluted air rushing by. She was leaning over the side of her cart and staring at the bubbling red and orange lava below her.

Olivia was having the opposite experience, she was leaning far over the side of her minecart with deep awe in her eyes. She was laughing every so often and ignored how the air made her wheeze and cough every couple minutes. She was having the time of her life.

"Come on, Jess, this is so cool!" Olivia exclaimed joyfully. She turned around to the back of her cart, looking at the tracks as they raced back.

"Do I need to remind you of our previous experiences with minecarts in the Nether?" Jesse asked flatly, she shivered at the thought of all the ghast.

Olivia scoffed, waving her friends concern off.

"That was all Magnus' doing, this is one of Ellegaards tracks!" Jesse was not convinced this was entirely Ellegaards just yet.

"I guess."

"I mean," Olivia continued blissfully. "can you imagine the amount of engineering this must have taken to build an automated track to _anywhere_ in The Nether? All the scaffolding you'd need? Ellegaard was probably fighting off Zombie Pigman with one hand, wiring redstone with the other…" Jesse chose to not mention the fact pigman don't attack unless they are attacked first, like untamed wolves.

"As impressive as I admit this is," Jesse cut her friend off from her ramble about her hero, "remember we are on a mission. We are here to grab Ellegaard and leave, I don't want this trip to be longer than it needs to be." Olivia turned as red as her shirt.

"Of course. It's just…" Olivia trailed off with a sigh. She laid against the back of her cart and looked up at the netherrack ceiling rolling passed above them. "a dream come true for me... Have you ever met Ellegaard?"

Jesse raised an eyebrow at Olivia's out of place question.

"Formally? As in, 'Hello, my name is,' handshake?" Jesse asked. Olivia nodded. "No, but I have seen her with my own eyes." Olivia gasped, her eyes turning into snowballs with shock.

"What! Why are you telling me this now!?" Jesse chuckled, Olivia was a joy to have when she was excited.

"It was for a school field trip when I was eight," She reminisced. She hadn't thought about the time she visited Redstonia for a long time. "Which was eighteen years ago, there isn't much to tell about it." Olivia jumped forward, rocking the carts together violently. She grabbed Jesse's hand as if she was going to start praying.

"What was she like?" Jesse shrugged.

"Don't remember."

"Do you remember anything?" Olivia stressed, practically jumping in her cart. Jesse had the think about the field trip really hard.

"Other than the fact I got a headache from all the redstone talk," Jesse replied slowly. "nope." Olivia looked positively floored.

"How… Jesse!" Olivia screamed, pointing ahead of them. Jesse was hit in the face by Olivia's hand but she saw where her friend was pointing.

Clear ahead of them, was the largest ghast Jesse had seen yet. It was a whole block taller and wider, with a hissing sound coming from its closed mouth just like a creeper.

The mob opened its red mouth and glowing eyes, Jesse barely had time to curse before the ghast shot a fireball at the girls. It hit and exploded the trails in front of them, sending the two girls flying out of the minecarts and into the gravelly netherrack. The minecarts had more luck and tumbled together to the edge of the small piece of (extremely lucky) land they found themselves crashing into.

Olivia scrambled to her feet, rushed over to Jesse and help her friend up. They both ran away from the ghast and took cover next to a patch of soul sand.

Jesse looked around their barrier of protection at the ghast.

"If I ever meet another ghast after this it will be too soon," Jesse growled while silently damning the awful mob to… the surface? Where do you damn things that already live in the Nether?

Olivia peaked at the mob over Jesse's shoulder.

"How are we going to get around it?" Olivia asked nervously. "Without getting blasted into the lava." Jesse didn't know, she was just thankful she didn't take Reuben or Lukas with her.

She scanned the piece of land for anything that could help them. All she saw was their only form of transportation slowly pulling itself along into the lava lake.

"the minecarts!" Jesse gasped. Olivia's eyes grew when she finally noticed the minecarts were about to commit suicide.

"This is not good." Her voice shook with fear. Jesse looked around one last time to assess the situation. She quickly had a plan

"You grab the carts, I'll distract it," Jesse pulled out her golden sword. Olivia eyed the gold sword nervously, but she nodded anyway.

"On it!" Olivia was off to grab the carts and Jesse was off to fight the ghast.

It wasn't really that exciting. It was just a pointless and slightly annoying bump in the road. Olivia got the minecarts away from the edge and onto the tracks. While Jesse knocked back one of the ghast fireballs with her sword. The ghast died instantly and one of its tears floated on the ground just begging to be picked up. Jesse ignored the tear and walked up to Olivia.

"You okay?" Olivia asked.

"Yes." Jesse nodded, she didn't' care if she sounded slightly annoyed, because she was; she was done with ghast and she wanted the world to know.

 _Maybe they'll leave us alone now_! She thought to herself.

"Good." Olivia nodded. She faced the carts, getting ready to push them when ready. "Let's get in." Olivia pushed the carts to forward. Jesse quickly jumped into the first one, with Olivia following her into the second cart behind her.

They rode together in silence for a few minutes. They were just trying to forget almost being thrown into lava and losing their only form of transportation.

You did a great job, Jess," Olivia broke the silence, her words making Jesse thankful to have her as a friend. "thank you."

"No problem," Jesse muttered sincerely.

Soon, the two got over the lake of lava and was now safely traveling over netherrack blocks.

The journey was quicker than expected. It was a huge relief off of Jesse's shoulder knowing they weren't going to be too long.

"Hey, look at that sign!" Olivia pointed excitedly at a sign up ahead, with the words written across- "Redstonia! Here we come!" Jesse chuckled at her friend's delightful antics.

Track 57 lead them to the right destination, a little Nether Portal built inside a small cave that (hopefully) lead to the surface.

Olivia was bouncing when she walked.

"There's the portal," Jesse sighed thankfully. "The worlds greatest engineer is on the other side." Olivia grinned from ear to ear. She never looked happier and seemed to have forgotten their near-death experience with the ghast.

"Who would've thought that someday we'd be heading to Redstonia to save the world? It's incredible." Olivia thought aloud. Her joyful look faded quickly without warning. "Do you think Ellegaard will be willing to help us?"

Jesse had thought about that before and it scared her. If they failed, they didn't have a backup plan and won't be able to figure out a new one in time.

"she better be, or else we just wasted our time," Jesse explained darkly, causing Olivia to break into a sweat a bit. Olivia took a deep breath before they both entered the nether portal.

The other side of the portal led them to the top of a structure made of every type of marble. Upon further inspection, they were on top of a giant column in the middle of an island bay.

"Woah," Jesse mumbled is slight amazement. A million faded memories pushed past her subconscious and into the front of her mind. The beautiful island of Redstonia was like a humongous, glorified garden, with statues, buildings and decorations in the form of random inventions spewed between large trees, patches of flowers and a running stream through the island. It was breathtakingly lovely, it was as if the Witherstorm never excised, just bright sun and giant, full-bloomed roses.

And it hadn't changed at all. From what Jesse remembered from her last visit (when she was eight) it looked exactly the same. The same daisy patch, the same sunflower grove, the same group of trees and the same tall crazy inventions.

"This is amazing!" Olivia was taken away by the beautiful sight, while Jesse was disappointed. She was expecting it to have gotten better, bigger, and more extravagant, but it hadn't. It was just… Redstonia, in a bad way.

"This place is so beautiful," Olivia added. The two walked to the side of the column, and an elevator lifted itself from the bottom of the bay for them to stand on. Jesse and Olivia walk onto the platform, and they descended down to a bridge that led to the island.

"Yeah, beautiful." Jesse agreed shortly after Olivia's comment.

They followed the gravel path past a few inventions, people and flower patches to the middle of the island, where a huge building in the very center stood tall and proud. It was made of iron, marble stained clay and different sandstone in a circular dome. It had many entrances but only one at the top of a set of red sandstone stairs mattered.

A large group of people stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at a small observation deck above them. On the deck was the charming engineer who changed the modern world single-handedly with her redstone genius and expertise. To be in the presence of such a legend and personal hero, Olivia leaned back like she was about to faint. Jesse caught her before she fell and listened to Ellegaard.

"Builders of Redstonia!" Ellegaard announced, her voice commanding attention and grace. "I want you to know how much I value and adore each and every one of you. Your hard work inspires me every day! As you know, I am about to enter my Dome of Concentration, where I will be unreachable for the foreseeable future, but I will emerge when I complete my latest and greatest creation: the Command Block!" Olivia was close to fainting a second time at the mention of the command block.

"What did she just say?" Olivia gripped her friend's shoulder as confirmation she hadn't lost her mind.

Jesse assured her she heard correctly and to shush up. The young brunette was just as freaked out as her friend over the news.

"So please!" Ellegaard continued her announcement. It took everyone in Jesse to not think anything negative about the engineer because she had no idea how dangerous that block was. "Continue working! Continue building! And whichever person most impresses me, shall be my protege! Ready to help me usher in a new era of innovation and creativity! Calvin, throw the switch!" An older man monitoring the crowd walked to a set of levers on a control panel and flipped all of them off. Ellegaard waved goodbye to her people, her smile infectious. She turned around and walked into her home.

"Wait!" Olivia shouted over the roaring crowd that was clapping with approval.

"No!" Jesse panicked. She pulled Olivia along with her as she pushed through the thick crowd.

The big iron door closing behind Ellegaard, iron blocks blocked the windows and the stairs were pulled into the wall by sticky pistons.

The girls didn't even make it to the bottom of the stairs. Everyone in the crowd began to leave, not paying attention to the weird duo.

"Damn it." Olivia cursed. Jesse searched the area for help.

"Hey!" Jesse yelled at the man that flipped the switches; he did a double take at being called out. "You in the dark, dull green jacket! Calvin was it?" Calvin walked over to the duo awkwardly.

"Uhh, yes, that is me." He nodded and shook both their hands formally. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to speak to Ellegaard. It's urgent!" Olivia exclaimed. Calvin raised an unimpressed eyebrow, eyeing Olivia up and down.

 _Great, we have a stuck-up_ , Jesse thought.

"Oh, I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Did you hear the speech?" He deadpanned casually. "She's on lockdown until she completes her next great invention. Lucky for you, I'm here." It was Jesse's turn to raise an unimpressed eyebrow. "How can I help?"

"It's urgent, we need to get this message to Ellegaard, can you please take us to her," Olivia asked, stepping closer to Calvin and past Jesse.

"Look," Calvin said, more sincerely this time but still just as stuck up. "I can tell you aren't from around here and you…" Calvin turned his head when he switched from looking at Olivia to Jesse. The way she acted and spoke tipped him off somehow.

"I'm from Oak across the way." Jesse had this unique ability to imitate accents. If you gave Jesse a few hours with anyone, she'll be talking just like them in no time. She'll be saying the same lingo, amount of curses, even the way they might accidentally skip certain words and pronounce others. So she quickly gave into Olivia's and Axel hometown of Beacon Mines way of speaking.

But just for this one sentence, she went back to her roots. The way people from Oak City stressed each vowel in every word, giving off this effect that they had to take a breath after each word they spoke. They spoke slow and kept their voice tight. It was unique to them and them alone.

"Ahh," Calvin nodded, while Olivia's jaw fell at the unrecognizable accent. "then you can level with me. Tell me, who are you? Why do you need to see Ellegaard?" Jesse sighed, going back to Beacon Mines speech pattern.

"I have a message from Gabriel, Ellegaard's old friend?" Calvin frowned, turning around and walking away from them a few steps. He was thinking.

"You must admit this seems a little outlandish."

"Look," Jesse brought out the amulet Gabriel gave her. "This is Gabriels' amulet. He gave it to me so we could find the Order. You have to let us inside." Calvin turned around to see. His eyes widen with awe.

"Oh my," Calvin muttered. He regained his composure just as quickly as he lost it. "That is interesting." He stated. "If you'd like I could send that to Ellegaard?" It was such a small offer with such big potential consequences.

She didn't have time to think about them.

"Alright." Jesse handed the amulet over to him. Calvin thanked her and threw the piece of jewelry into a water stream that led inside the dome.

Calvin returned shortly after.

"That should do it. You're going to have to wait for a response." He informed the two girls. Jesse grew annoyed.

"And that will take?" She asked.

"Undetermined," Calvin answered. "Now, if you will pardon me, I have business to attend to…" He turned on his heels and muttered something about a repeater and picked one up as he walked past a redstone trail that led to and from the control panel.

It was the once things that stopped the girls from entering the dome without permission.

Jesse and Olivia circled the spot long after Calvin left, weighing their options.

"We can't get in without that repeater," Olivia noted.

"What about just a piece of redstone?" Jesse asked, proving how much she didn't pay attention in that class in high school.

"No that won't work." Olivia shook her head. "Each trail is spaced perfectly, we need a repeater to make the signal stronger." Olivia pointed at how dull the redstone was lit up at the end.

"Great," Jesse scowled, already turning to her friend with a plan. "We have no time to lose, you see if there are any ingredients and I'll see if I can just find a repeater." Olivia nodded.

"Got it." They spit up.

Walking around the familiar island was very nostalgic for Jesse, though she had no idea what was going on. She saw cows being thrown across the sky, chickens being trained like dogs and wolves being forced to outrun sheep with strange devices on their wool. This place might not have changed much, but the fact she was a complete noob didn't.

Every person she met she asked for a repeater.

"Do you happen to have a repeater?"

"No, sorry."

"Do you have a repeater?"

"None that I can spare."

There wasn't even a person with an invention with a visible repeater she could steal.

Finally, she was on the edge of the island, walking up to an awkwardly dancing guy on a modern updated disco stage.

She didn't think her life could get any weirder than this.

"Hey, how's it goin'? How ya doin'?" The Disco Man asked… twice. "Here to see the next great revolution in entertainment?" Jesse forced a smile on her face.

"Actually I'm here to ask if you have a repeater," She said sweetly. The Disco Man stopped dancing. He looked down at her with apologetic eyes.

"Oh? Well sorry, friend, actually just used my last one on this puppy." He motioned to his machine around him and kicked a lever up. The lava curtain at the back of the disco stage gave way to a group of three jumping cows in a cage. It was very odd for Jesse.

The Disco Man then motioned to an exposed repeater next to the stage. If only she could grab it… "One of the key components that help the cows dance. Haha!"

 _Dancing cows?_ Jesse thought.

"Errr, alright," She tried not to sound rude, but couldn't tell if she was failing or not. "care to tell me what exactly I'm looking at?"

"This is a Bovine Lava Disco!" _Doesn't sound dangerous at all!_ "The perfect fusion of my two loves, Cows and Music. Ellegaards gonna see it and make me her protege for sure!" Jesse nodded along with what the afro man was saying.

"Okaaay," Jesse knew she sounded weirded out. "I'm gonna keep looking around." Before she turned to leave, The Disco Man shook her hand.

"See you around, friend," He exclaimed for all to hear. His friendly smile dropped into a serious expression. "But, before you go, just between you and me, stay away from that little schoolboy, all right? He's never had an original idea in his life." The Schoolboy in question looked like he was barely twenty years old, with a strange dull green hue to him, like he was constantly covered in slime. Behind him was a redstone robot the size of an Oak City apartment complex, made out of slime blocks, redstone blocks and pistons.

As much as The Disco Man told her to keep away, she needed a repeater, so she went up to the much younger Schoolboy.

"Hey, What's up, what's up?" The Schoolboy smiled cynically. Jesse wondered if it was this islands thing to say any form of 'hello' twice. The Schoolboy set both hands on his hips while he spoke. "Here to see the _… best machine_ …" The boy stressed each word. "that ever graced Redstonias shores?" Jesse was about to answer when a high pitched scream erupted her.

Jesse looked up to her right to see what was going on. A girls flying machine looked to have malfunctioned and was flying her straight into the atmosphere. The Schoolboy looked taken aback at the sight of the girl flying away, along with the number of people running around with buckets, and yelling into the sky for her to stay calm and stop the machine by breaking it. Some noble men were trying to build a similar machine to chase after her.

Jesse wished she could help, but she couldn't.

"Uhmm, no," Jesse answered the Schoolboys previous question. "no I'm not. I just want to know if you have a repeater I can borrow?" The Schoolboy scowled.

"No, sorry, I don't." He certainly didn't sound sorry. He seemed angry in fact. Jesse knew it was because she didn't ask about his precious invention.

Not wanting to make enemies, she said, "Your machine is impressive. Did you build it? Like, came up with the idea and everything?" The Schoolboy got quickly excited. Then looked slightly confused.

He scoffed.

"of course! What makes you think otherwise!" Jesse put her hands up defensively.

"Woah! Calm down. Just," Jesse pointed at The Disco Man behind her. "he said you stole all your ideas, wanted to see your side of the story." The Schoolboy looked very offended, almost repulsed.

"That… no good… dirty…" The Schoolboy muttered before exploding, "Disco-Freak!" The Schoolboy stomped over to the person he hated most in this world. "I have a bone to pick with you!" He shouted.

Jesse didn't mean to, but she created a distraction to steal a repeater. Her mission was close to completion.

If only it didn't require her to steal. This person's machine will be ruined for who knows how long. But it was just a repeater, what damage could be done.

Jesse took the repeater from the trail. Instantly there was a grind, a spark, and a snap.

"Wha- NO! My machine!" The Disco Man screamed. Jesse ran to the front to see the damaged. The lava curtain was gone once again. The Cows were on fire, jumping or 'dancing' until they tipped over and died, leaving their cooked drops behind. "My cows! Something's gone wrong with the clock! It's not switching to water! No!" The Disco man broke down crying, breaking Jesse's heart. She wished she never took the poor mans repeater.

"Oh no, your _amazing_ invention." The Schoolboy smirked. Jesse scooted away from the scene just as people who weren't trying to help the poor girl in the sky came running to help the poor Disco Mans ruined invention.

Jesse found Olivia near the crowd trying to save Sky Girl.

"What happened?" Olivia asked, pointing to the crowd on the other side of the island. Jesse crossed her arms and looked away.

"I kind of just stole this guys repeater and now his invention is ruined." She said, completely embarrassed.

Olivia's eyes widen.

"Really? Damn," Olivia blushed dark red. "now I feel bad... I sent Sandy up into the air to steal some stone to _make_ a repeater." Jesse scratched her upper arms.

"Looks like we're both horrible," she tried making a joke out of it. She shook her head. "Come on, we can't dwell on it. Let's go get Ellegaard."

* * *

 **POV: Lukas**

Lukas knew he promised Jesse to try to get along with Axel, but it wasn't working. As much as he tried, they were constantly arguing and bickering with each other like an elderly couple in a desperate need of a divorce or separation and it was beginning to take its toll on Lukas.

The young blond was sifting through a large chest to find suitable materials for fixing the temple in an old storage room that was in the very back of the building. The fact he wasn't finding anything useful was already making his mood turn rotten, (if it was like the Order didn't keep anything organized) but arguing with Axel was forcing a sharp headache into Lukas skull, that was becoming agonizing. He wished he could say Axel could leave, but he was across the room from him, finding his own materials for the poor excuse of a temple.

The only redeeming thing about his hour was Reuben; sweet, sweet Reuben. He was laying down next to Lukas loyalty, oiking every few minutes with big sad eyes up at his male owner. He had no idea why the piglet was acting so strange and sad but he didn't care, the piglet was making him feel better whenever Lukas felt like throwing something at the person across the room.

Lukas pulled out a couple dusty books from the bottom of the chest. The little specks of dust that had clumped at the bottom flew up his nose which caused him to sneeze, and worse, cough into his sleeve. He was getting tired of the coughing, and he was running out of clean places on his arms to do… anything.

Axel gave him a dirty look from across the room, the one you give your brother when they're sick and walking around the house instead of staying in bed.

"You aren't getting sick, are you?" Axel asked skeptically. It was the tenth time he had hometown Lukas, and the latter was starting to get annoyed with the question.

"I'm fine! Stop asking me that!" Lukas growled tiredly, he was too drained to snap back. He felt like taking a long nap.

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here," Axel argued back. Lukas snorted lazily in response. "It's not like you're helping with getting this place ready before nightfall." He sighed at Axels claims, They were both looking for materials, he'd call that equally divided work.

Lukas looked behind him at his girlfriend's friend across the room and the pile that laid next to him. It was made of nothing but cobble and pumpkins, with the odd redstone lever and old bricks covered in moss.

"Can't we use something stronger," Lukas asked him, too tired to sound rude or disrespectful. "like redstone, and iron?"

"We don't have enough materials for that. Pumpkins and cobblestone will have to do." Lukas turned around, he didn't' need to think too hard to know that was the dumbest thing he had ever heard; cobblestone is strong (barely), but pumpkins and mossy stone bricks aren't going to get any job done.

"That's not going to hold for an hour, let alone a whole night and we might need it to hold longer than that," Lukas told him factly. He tried to make it so there was no room for negotiation, however, Axel always found a way to argue.

"It will hold," Axel said. Lukas snorted again as he brought out a pitiful stack of seeds and nether warts.

"Have you _seen_ this place! a is crumbling at the seams and you think _pumpkins and cobble_ are going to hold it together!" The boy in leather asked hysterically, he was grinning from ear to ear and was barely keeping in his laughter. Poor Reuben didn't like the look. "You're delusional!"

Axel turned around just to glare at the blond. He pointed at the door that went into the hallway, the only place it led to was the library.

"why don't you just go read a book, I'll finish this up." Axel turned back around and began to search the chest some more. Lukas ignored him by staying and adding anything he could think of that was stronger than cobblestone and broken, mossy bricks.

It took half an hour of complete and utter silence to get enough materials to fix the temple. Or, at least, make it safe for them to spend the night. Axel took the front and the left side, while Lukas took the back and right side. Lukas was slower, he took more breaks and ended up with more aches than Axel by a considerable amount. While Axel only took two and a half hour, Lukas took five. He The didn't feel like doing much. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or maybe it was something else he couldn't place; either way, he wanted to take a long nap.

By the time Lukas was back in the temple, he felt like he had a sunburn on his neck and Axel was reading in the library. Whatever the griefer was reading had his full attention, his eyes never wavering from the words as he turned each page of the fragile piece of literature.

For a second Lukas thought it was a redstone book of more complex traps for pranks and the like just by the red leather that surrounded the book. Something that he could never understand, but maybe Axel could. However, when he walked past the griefer, Axel called out to him.

"Hey, Lukas," He said, eyes still on the page." You said you know a little about Boom Town?" Lukas was too tired to wonder why Axel wanted to know about Boom Town; a quaint little piece of the Nether that had somehow surfaced into the overworld and refused to leave. Which was about as much fact as it was opinion.

"Yeah," He said tiredly. He thought about all the horror stories he was told as a child about Boom Town. Even the funniest ones couldn't make him laugh he was so exhausted. "We called it Griefer Glades, why?" Why did he ask that? He could've gotten out of this conversation quicker that way.

"I just found a map with the track that leads to Boom Town through the Nether." Lukas didn't notice how off Axel sounded; fascinated, the slight longing and the complete and utter determination that clouded it all. "What's it like?"

"I don't know," Lukas yawned truthfully. He took a single second to wonder why Axel was suddenly so curious but quickly abandoned the thought. "It used to be a mailing and shipping town before a huge famine hit the area. Sahara City and the city then named Sunstone suffered for about three years; a lot of people left until it was abandoned. After that, I guess Magnus made it his base or something and a hundred griefers from Sahara moved there. Place got renamed and the guards stopped bothering trying to round them all up. Griefer Glades is like a freaking fort at this point." Griefer Glades, as his hometown called it, was just out of sight from the naked eye if you looked in its direction. (Even from the tops of the highest building in Sahara) In reality, however, you take a half an hour ride by horse and Boom Town came into clear view like an old friend. A beaten up, fatally diseased friend.

"Have you ever met Magnus?" Lukas was surprised by the question that almost completely woke him up.

"No," he mumbled, skeptically eyeing the other man. "didn't know he lived in Boom Town until yesterday." He wondered if anyone back in his hometown knew this _very exciting_ information. This was stuff you read in the newspaper or was shouted in cafés. In other words, he should've known unless this was a secret kept under lock and key. It couldn't have been just the adults knowing about Magnus and them not telling the kids because it would give them a reason to want to go there, because a twenty-eight-year-old adult, that would be insulting.

"What else do you know about Boom Town?"

"Nothing but rumors and myths." This did not seem to satisfy Axel, as he slammed the book shut and looked at Lukas with a hard glare.

"What are they?" Lukas backed up a bit at Axel's demand.

"They got a king, their own little monarchy. There are more deaths there in a week than in a year compared to Sahara. Bombs line the outside of the city. Snipers hide in the tallest building, waiting to take people out… those are the ones that are… not _that_ insane." The others were pretty ridiculous like there were creeper tamers, vengeful ghost and insane warlocks enchanting the city to keep outsiders out. Even as a kid Lukas knew that one was stupid.

Axel looked at the book for a minute, eyes conflicted and mind arguing with itself.

Lukas thought the conversation was over, so he began to walk away to find a bed.

"You know what?" Axel yelled at Lukas, though he didn't sound like he was talking to him specifically. "I'm going." Lukas stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his heel. He was beyond puzzled.

"Excuse m-" Lukas cut himself off with a throaty cough. He was borderline gagging to try to get a chunk of mucus out of his lungs but for some reason, the lump in his throat refused to leave.

Axel pushed past Lukas and the latter's coughing fit.

"I'm going to go get Magnus by myself," Axel explained. "you can stay here and fix the rest of the place." Lukas finally stopped coughing enough to sputter.

"You can't leave!" He croaked hoarsely. He quickly followed the man into the back room, where Axel was collecting items for his trip.

"If Ellegaard doesn't come with the girls, then we are without hope, and I trust Magnus more than that red wearing nerd." Now that was hard, even for Axel, against the old engineer.

"We promised Jess we would stay here!" Lukas argued.

"No, you promised to stay here." Axel now had the stuff he thought he needed and headed straight for the front door without once looking at Lukas.

"Axel, you can't leave!" Lukas didn't know what to do, he couldn't stop the other man twice his size from leaving but it wasn't like he had a choice.

"Already am!" Was the last thing Axel said before he went off on his journey, leaving a sleeping Reuben and an emotionally drained Lukas behind.

* * *

Lukas didn't get much sleep at all. He kept imagining The Girls coming back with Ellegaard and wondering where Axel was. He wouldn't know what to tell them. That Axel left? That he went to grab Magnus? That he was on a suicide mission in the place that was pumping out bodies more than a funeral home after the plague?

Would Jesse be disappointed in him? Would she realize just how much this wasn't going to work? Would she side with her friends? (Of course she was, she's Jesse) Would she break up with him? (Not that he blamed her)

Like he needs it on top of everything else, but his stomach was acting up again. He was coming down with something and he was beginning to think he had the worst luck in the world.

After a few hours of torturing himself with his endless thoughts, he felt a dip in the bed by his feet. Lukas turned onto his back to see Reuben walking hesitantly across the bed onto his chest like a pup.

The little piglet oiked, sounding concerned.

"Looks like we are by ourselves, Reuben," Lukas' voice was starting to sound rough and scratchy, like sand.

Another oik. Reubens' eyes turned narrow and sad, almost like he wanted to cry.

Reuben was sensing something was wrong, but Lukas couldn't tell what it was.

"Yeah," Lukas scratched the piglet behind his tiny ears. "This sucks."

He laid there on the bed with Reuben on his chest for a while, he tried not to move much because the piglet was causing more pain than he was relieving any.

He got a few hours of sleep, which was great. Sadly, he woke up too quick for it to be considered anything but a nap.

The third time he woke up from a nap, Reuben was whining loudly, sounding terrified. It took a few moments to realize that Lukas was having trouble breathing, (though, how that's possible is a mystery to him) and he quickly coughed aside whatever was blocking his airways. He gripped his pounding stomach and groaned loudly, afraid to even turn on his side so he could curl into the fetal position.

"What the Nether is wrong with me?" Lukas cursed. He slowly sat up in the bed, coughing a little along the way. Lukas felt a little better, not as fatigued and his abdomen wasn't feeling as bad as when he woke up. He still felt lousy.

Reuben oiked fearfully. He put his nose close to Lukas' side, a part his jacket would cover up and where a small hole in his shirt rested.

Lukas turned his head, confused. He didn't understand why, but he followed his pig's instructions; he slowly lifted his shirt up so he could look where his piglet was pointing at.

His skin under his shirt was pale white and small patches of purple were surrounding the tiniest cut Lukas had ever received in his life. It was an ugly sight, making the owner of the sickly sight feel sicker than he clearly already was.

"I think my cut is infected," Lukas' cleared his throat to keep it from cracking (any more than it was already). "Come on Reuben, lets head to the library." Reuben oiked obediently.

Together, the two got up to head to the library in hopes to find another healing or regeneration potion. Thankfully, there was several laying around the place, so it wasn't hard to find.

He poured the reddish-pink liquid over his wound to get faster (and maybe better) result. It didn't heal, it just stayed there, completely unaffected.

"What the…" Lukas trailed off weakly. It clearly wasn't working, he couldn't understand why.

Why wasn't this working? It practically went against the laws of science.

The young man began looking around in medical books, most written all by Ellegaard and/or Magnus (surprisingly unsurprising?). He found the biggest one in the library, maybe he'd find out why the potions weren't working.

"Coughing, bruising/infection around cut, fatigue, paleness…" Lukas listed off carelessly as he turned each page. Nothing fit the situation or the symptoms and when he thought he found one, at the bottom of each page it said, "Healing potion will suffice."

Lukas flipped to the back labeled "fatal illnesses," he doubted his condition would be there but he looked anyway. Each disease needed medical treatment from doctors, but none fit his symptoms or situation.

At the very back of the book, was a black page with white wording rather than a white page and white wording. The number of skulls and warning signals decorating the corners were a clear indication that this was more than just a little deadly, this was _agonizing_.

As someone who took advanced health (again, wanted to be an alchemist) he knew only one of a couple of diseases in the world could get this treatment in a health book. This level of worthy bastardization.

"Wither," Lukas shivered at the words written in a different print from the rest of the diseases and illnesses in the rest of the book. Reuben oiked nervously. "No, no, no. It's just a disease you get sometimes when you fight the Wither. It's so powerful, not even milk or health potions can get rid of it." _Oik, oik, oik._ "Yes, I've heard of it. Of course I've had." _Oik_. "Not a cure you can make no. People get it and it goes away… rarely. But it is fatal. We don't… Reuben…" Lukas felt a cough before he actually did it.

He coughed so hard he tasted something salty fill his mouth. He coughed into his hands, this time purposely putting more gusto into each breath to get that lump in his lungs out once and for all. When he succeeded, it was a small ball of mucus (like he guessed it was) but it was runny, like water and was the color of blood. While the actual blood that he coughed up to gets that lump out was thick like slime (he knew it was blood because of the taste and the fact his lip was covered in black as if he was wearing lipstick) and it dripped from his fingers. His blood was black and purple.

Lukas shared a look Reuben, who was shaking in terror, on the verge of squealing away at top speed.

"I think we have…" Lukas croaked, more hoarse than ever before. "an issue."

 ***shakes head***

 **This is why I should be given the ability to do whatever I want. I DO STUFF LIKE THIS!**

 **Sorry for being so late. I haven't been getting many reviews and it kind of bummed me out. I could really use a few guys! PLEASE! Just like… a few more would be great? ….**

 **Anyway, I won't hold you guys.**

 **Sorry for the grammar and misspelling you may see reading this. I am trying to improve much as I can.**

 **REVIEW RESPONSE!**

 **TheAmberShadow - I don't know why everyone assumes griefers are idiots, they have to understand redstone better than most 'engineers'. No, drinking two healing potiosn is probably not a good idea. Thank you for liking my journal idea! I always had a problem with canon game version. Ahh, don't worry. Your song was adorable. Thank you for the compliment.**

 **Well, I'm sorry for the late update. But I am not giving up. But I could really use an extra review this time. I would greatly apprieciate it.**

 **BYE!**

 **-Kayla**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi.**

 **thank you, Empire501st, Guest, DaFlameDF, The Sorrowful Deity and TheAmberShadow for your precious reviews. They are amazing. I can't thank you guys enough.**

 **POV: Lukas**

Lukas felt useless as he stumbled around helplessly trying to do as much intense research as he could on Wither. There was just one problem, there wasn't much on the disease he didn't already know.

"Health potions and milk dim the symptoms and can lengthen the victims life... but (eventually) the virus will become immune to the treatment(s)," "its the deadliest disease on the map… no one knows how survivors of the disease… survived." "(Wither) is a medical mystery." All stuff he already knew and memorized.

After he deemed his search hopeless, he curled into the bed he was using before he found out his inevitable death, and thought hard about how he was supposed to say or do anything with this knowledge. (All the while trying not to cough.) What would he do about Jesse? How would she react? She was already going to be angry that Axel left to grab Magnus with Lukas doing little to try and stop him...

Reuben, the loyal piggy, sat with him when Lukas felt like crying and contemplated death. Reuben whined and grunted, snuggling closer to his male owner. The piglet didn't want him to die either.

"What are we going to do, Reuben," Lukas mumbled. "What are we going to do?" Reuben oiked several times signifying he didn't know.

Lukas wished he had time to figure everything and anything out, but he only had enough time to make as many health and regeneration potions as he could, one a day for each (one at night and one in the morning) was what he found to be the best solution. He also went out and milked a cow dry. During that time, he told Reuben over and over again, "When Jesse gets back you can't let her know somethings wrong with me. You can't let anyone know, we have enough on our plate." Reuben oiked in protest at first, but eventually he oiked a promise to obey.

After that, Lukas laid in bed and did nothing but hug his girlfriends piglet close to his chest.

* * *

 **POV: Petra**

It is interesting how terrifying it is being out in the middle of nowhere without any tools, plan or armor or… anything; just yourself, your clothes and whatever just so happens to be attached to the ground.

Petra had been on adventures and journeys before but nothing like this: going in blind without the any equipment or food. It. sucked. The poor women had to create all the tools she needed from scratch. All her day was digging into the ground to find the one thing she needed only to not have room in her inventory for it by the time she found it, and (the worst part) throwing away something she ended up needing (or more like begging for) later on. A prime example is when she threw away every last block of cobblestone, dirt and sand into a stream, and then about five hills later she came across a giant mountain that she needed to climb.

She really regretted that moment especially. And it kept happening, over and over and over, again and again.

By the end of the second night, Petra was afraid to get rid of anything in her inventory, even the pointless rotten flesh. She was petrified hat she will drop it, run out of food and starve to death before she got to The Orders temple.

That is, if she could even find it! No one, (repeat, no on) knew where The Orders Temple was and she definitely didn't have enough time to ask Gabriel The Warrior where it was, as he could barely get out "Go to The Orders temple!" before he was disintegrated into The Monster Withers skin. The only thing anyone knew that was it was near Soren's Mountain.

Petra wished she had just ran inside the Nether Portal when she had the chance. But, she got cornered, and then the Wither Monster destroyed the portal. She had no other choice but to run.

Honestly, she doesn't remember how she escaped the Giant Wither, it was simply a miracle she left with her life. The only thing she could complain about was the Wither followed her for about two days before it changed courses in the opposite direction. She didn't really think about it.

The trip from her small village to the Base of Sorens Mountain was four days, a really long time. By the time she made it, she felt dirty and was covered in an inch of dirt and sand, she also was just very tired. (Petra was thankful the Wither Monster stopped following her two days before, she managed to run a lot more ground.)

Petra was disappointed to be at the place that took days to travel to, and still not have what she was looking for. She walked for half a day, looking for The Orders temple, she knew it was around somewhere, she just couldn't see it.

Right when she was about to call it a night, she looked up and saw a dirt hut built on top of a small hill. Petra stumbled over, dropped stuff in her inventory as she went along. She had a feeling she wouldn't need any of it anymore.

The hut was new, there was no grass on the top of any of the blocks. There was also faded track prints in the dirt, most of it obscured by other tracks of wild life, but still human tracks.

Petras heart fluttered. (Not that she would ever admit that.)

She followed the tracks as closely as possible, sometimes veering off the beaten path to see if she could find the unknown place she was looking for quicker.

Her luck payed off.

Petra found The Orders temple, a ruined, beaten down, destroyed place of broken stone brick, eroding quartz, cobblestone, pumpkins, moss and crumbling glass. As awful as it sounded, the place around the front entrance was cleared up unlike the rest; some of the blocks lacked dust and grime the others had and there was stains in the grass from where a rock used to sit. There must have been someone nearby.

Petra all but jumped down from the hill she was standing on, then ran up to the door to start banging against a fresh and shiny iron door.

"Hey!" Petra shouted, her voice slightly hoarse from all the shouting she had done over the last four days and maybe something a little more. "Hey! Let me in! Hello! Anyone home!"

Footsteps scuffed across the floor, (it sounded like a zombie was coming to open the door,) and a pair of pale, bright blue eyes peered through the holes in the door.

Lukas.

The door was unlocked a second later. Sure enough, Lukas was on the other side.

Petra collapsed on the spot into Lukas' shocked arms. For the first times in days, Petra was safe.

Lukas was shouting things at Petra that she was too tired to hear.

She hadn't slept in so long and she felt so happy to be safe again. Her bones felt like lead.

Petra might have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Lukas was serving her a health potion. Her bruises and cuts healed, but her energy wasn't given back.

The young blond didn't give her the whole health potion, though. He left about three pixels high at the bottom of the bottle.

Lukas pulled out a speed potion and poured about two pixels high inside. He swished it around, then put the bottle up to her lips.

Petra had never mixed potions before, it was unheard of. It was… never thought of, to be honest. It scared her. Was there a risk in mixing potions? Surely there must be.

"Come on, Petra," Lukas said. He forced the bottle into her mouth and she choked down the rest.

Petra bolted up coughing and gagging. Forget the fact it tasted like pie… wait, it tasted like… pie?

It was really good. Like… stupidly good. Petra would have drank a whole bottle willingly is she knew it tasted this good.

"Don't get any ideas," Lukas' voice broke through her trance. "The speed potion is special…" He stopped to cough. "Only able to mix with health potions... it taste great but if you mix normal ones…" Lukas shook his head. "Lets just say, TNT will look like a firecracker dud. Also, I'm not teaching you the special way either. Energy Potions especially are extremely addictive, and… has been outlawed almost everywhere… you are lucky I know how to mix potions." Petra was almost too disappointed to notice she felt… better.

Almost.

Petra was energized again, and only just a bit tired. She didn't need a long nap anymore, it was fantastic.

"I can't believe your alive," Lukas stared at her with awe. "We thought you were dead. I was starting to think the Witherstorm got you."

Witherstorm, it had an intriguing ring to it.

The next few moments went by in a mindless blur. Petra just knew it involved a lot of talking in whispers, grateful sighs and smiles, it was very awkward and neither had any idea what to say, they were simply grateful the other was there.

It was during her conversation with Lukas when she noticed just how awful Lukas looked. Almost like a corpse.

She would have said something, if Axel didn't just so happen to come banging on the front door entrance.

* * *

 **POV: Jesse**

Ellegaards Dome of Concentration was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Or maybe it just felt bigger. Either way, the place made Jesse feel small and insignificant.

The place went high into the dome shaped ceiling, but also went down far below into the ground, tubes of glass that carried materials covered walls and the floor far under the bridge Olivia and Jesse were forced to walk across. (Jesse could only image the room under the giant single room she was in that was filled with chest.) Finally, just about every redstone trail was on top of a hanging mini-bridge up in the atmosphere.

The place was literally glowing with redstone, and the place was drenched in the smell of the red, metallic dust.

"This is the most redstone… stuff I've ever seen in my life." Jesse told Olivia.

Jesse was more concerned than she was impressed. As much as she hated to say it, (in the words of her mother,) "some people have way too much time on their hands." A group of people building this is one thing, but Ellegaard didn't sound to be the, "Group Construction Project," type.

Olivia didn't agree.

"It's amazing!" Olivia exclaimed, wide eyed and jumpy. "Come on. We need to keep moving!" Olivia jogged in front of Jesse, who chose to walk.

Olivia ran through an a weird 6 block by 2 block tunnel in the middle of the bridge. Next to either side of the tunnel was a box made of obsidian, or something of the like, and there was several redstone pieces sticking out of the box's that attached themselves to the tunnel.

Jesse was instantly concerned about it.

Olivia wasn't and barreled through the tunnel. She turned around to wait for Jesse, but the the two blocks in the middle of the tunnel slammed together with pistons. The blocks pulled apart for less than a second before slamming back together.

"Yikes!" Jesse jumped back. She was not exactly expecting that but she didn't know what she was expecting either. "What is this?"

Of course, she knew what it was. It was a death waiting to happen. A bad one at that.

The blocks parted.

Olivia shrugged.

The blocks slammed together.

The blocks parted.

"I don't know," Olivia shouts quickly. SLAM! Open. "breaking things up." SLAM! Open. "Keeping out intruders." SLAM! Open. "There's lots of explanations."

Jesse had doubts about both of those options.

You don't have the repeater that makes your security system work, exposed and right next the entrance to the area you want people to stay out of.

Jesse pulled the repeater lever all the way back, making the contraption practically useless.

She walked through the contraption to stand next to Olivia.

"There's nothing to break up here, and this is the worst security system I've ever seen." Jesse was slightly bitter and annoyed. It could be one thing, it could be a combination of lots of things but she was slowly losing her mind.

Maybe it was the fact Oak City was right across the water. Maybe it was because she didn't have Reuben or Lukas near her. The fact Lukas was sick the last time she saw him and she wasn't there to take care of him. Or the people of Redstonia that always annoyed her, even when she was used to dealing with them back when she was a teenager. Maybe it was just that everything here was so unimpressive or stupidly overthetop (to the point where it felt… plain). Or, who knows, maybe it was just the fact getting here was too easy with little challenge and no action. Whatever it was, Jesse wanted to leave, quickly.

Olivia shrugged, still looking like she had died and gone to the Aether.

"Then I'm sure there is a logical explanation, like…" The redstone expert looked around the domed room. "she's moving a lot of different ingredients around this huge building. She might've just… not had time to fix this up."

Jesse was sure that was the case.

"Maybe," Jesse took one last look. She pulled Olivia forward towards a lava curtain. (Odd for a place of invention…) "Again, I'm no expert but that seemed to defeat the purpose of a security system."

Olivia punched her arm. It wasn't playful, but it wasn't serious either.

"Why are you so cynical, Jesse? Just appreciate it for what it is!" Olivia twirled in a gleeful circle. Her eyes were literally popping out of her eyes with childish wonder.

Jesse had been trying. But Redstonia was becoming less nostalgic and more and more boring.

Now that she thinks about it, she hated her field trip of Redstonia.

What was she thinking!

"I think that Ellegaard is amazing, Olivia." Jesse responded honestly. Olivia nodded, she knew that. "I just think she's better than this, you know?" Olivia had nothing to say.

The lava current was easy to get past, just a lever pull in the middle of the bridge from Olivia did the trick.

Behind it was a wall of chiseled quartz and more redstone contraptions.

Olivia and Jesse took a look at the two tall strips of quartz.

Olivia pushed the closest button.

Turns out, it was a Zipper. A redstone machine that was supposed to be a subtle temporary doorway to rooms. The Zipper was pistons that always stayed on and when a button is pushed and they turn off. It causes the pistons to pull the blocks back, one at a time in a quick zipper like affect.

It seemed like overkill that this complicated machine was used to hide a water elevator.

"It's a water elevator." Jesse stated the obvious. She wished she didn't sound as cynical as she knew she did.

"Wow." If Olivia heard it, she ignored her. "I've never seen one before. How does this even work?" Olivia turned to Jesse with questioning eyes.

"You jump in and swim up." Jesse explained, pointing to the top. "The signs have the floor number and you just jump off at your stop, but looks like this only has one exit."

"This is so cool!"

Jesse wanted to agree as she entered the elevator.

It wasn't even that tall, only about thirty blocks tall. But the room it led to luckily had Ellegaard in it. Jesse didn't know what she would have done otherwise.

The room was dome shaped and was the exact same material as the rest of the building, quartz, clay and iron. Unsurprisingly, there was chest lining the walls with buttons, levers and picture frames hanging above the chests (each picture frame had one material in it.).

Across the room was Ellegaard, pacing back and forth in front of a wall of four pistons and four crafting tables. She was mumbling to herself about the machine behind her.

Olivia gripped Jesse's arm with a silent gasp.

"This is just how imagined it!" She whispered, shaking her arm violently. "Entering Ellegaards lab. Seeing her… right there! She'll ask me to be her apprentice, and the next thing you know we'll be changing the world together!" Jesse smiled kindly and rolled her eyes. She pushed Olivia's hand off her arm.

"Why don't we start by saving the world first?" Jesse advised a slightly hyperventilating Olivia. "Excuse me! Ellegaard?" She walked swiftly up in front of the old hero, trying to fight off how nervous she felt.

She tried to remember everything that bored her about this place.

Ellegaard jumped at the sudden appearance of Jesse.

"Woah!" She gasped. "Didn't see you sneaking up on me! Just, don't touch anything, okay?" She motioned to the area around her. "It's all supremely fragile and genius." Jesse frowned.

"Did Calvin send you?" Ellegaard asked. She was not afraid. She was very casual about everything. "Are you my new assistants?" Ellegaard looked at Jesse up and down. Her dark black eyes analyzing every square pixels of her.

Olivia gripped Jesse's arms again. The latter shrugged the former off.

"No, we-" Ellegaard cut the young women off.

"No time for specifics, I'm afraid." She interrupted in a hurry. "We must get to work! You, Goggle Girl, switch on that T-Flop circuit to activate the delivery chutes. And you, Non-Goggle Guy, grab me a blaze rod and an iron block."

Jesse was stunned silent. She was not expecting Ellegaard, the maps smartest individual, to be so airheaded.

Olivia was also frozen with shock, for a completely different reason.

"She wants me to do something for her." The young, dazed redstone expert mumbled. "What if I screw it up? What if I…" She began to sway on her feet. "oh, I feel… lightheaded…"

Olivia collapsed backwards onto the ground.

Jesse snapped out of her still state to see her friend fall.

"Olivia!" She took a knee next to her fainted friend to see if she was alright. Olivia seemed fine but unconscious.

The Redstone Engineer looked at her two new 'assistance' with a stare of distaste.

"Wow," She grumbled. "I need an assistant to help with my assistant." She turned to Jesse. "Think you can handle it on your own?" Ellegaard turned around and walked away.

Jesse felt the anger rise in her stomach.

"What!" Are you kidding me! "Hey, wait! Help me wake her up!"

Olivia's hero continued to saunter to her machines.

Jesse knew if she had the choice she would throw something at the Engineer.

I came all this way for Ellegaard! And for what!

Jesse shook her friends shoulders and hit her cheeks a few times.

"Olivia!" She whispered. "Olivia! Olivia! Come on!" Jesse knew it was stupid, but she did it anyway. She brought out a piece of redstone and waved it close to Olivia's nose. "Smell the mental. Let it lure you back to the land of the awake." Olivia's eyes blinked open, then she sneezed.

"Jesse?" Olivia muttered in between sneezes.

Jesse smiled.

"Hey, you fainted for a second." She brushed a hand comforting through her friends hair. "Are you okay? How's your head?" Olivia rubbed the back of her head for bumps or bruises.

"I don't think I've ever fainted before." Was her response. Jesse had never heard Olivia sounded so disappointed or embarrassed. (Which was saying something.)

"It's okay. It happens to the best of us." Jesse reassured. Olivia's lips twitched thankfully.

Some footsteps smacked hard against the ground, like a person does when angry. The footsteps got closer until they stopped just behind the two friends.

Jesse helped Olivia up, not caring about who she knew it was.

"Excuse me? Non-Goggle Guy?" Ellegaard sounded annoyed. "I need a blaze rod pronto!"

Jesse faced The Old Hero. She crossed her arms.

"I am not one of your assistance!" Jesse snapped. Her face was slowly starting to flush from Ellegaards ignorance.

"What?" The legendary hero jumped back, her hand jumping up to protect her chest. "Then who are you?" Jesse's scowled deepened.

"I'm Jesse from Oak City," Jesse pointed to Olivia with her thumb. "this is Olivia from Beacon Mines. We are not here to be your assistance, we are here to ask for your help! There is this giant thing called a Witherstorm-"

"A Witherwhat?" Ellegaard snorted, as if she didn't believe the other two girls. "What are you talking about! Who sent you!" Ellegaard paused for a second. "Was is Calvin?" Jesse smacked a hand to her forehead.

"Gabriel sent us!" Jesse exclaimed. Olivia put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The young brown haired girl instantly relaxed, but she was still pissed.

Ellegaard face morphed into one that made Jesse think she finally understood how serious she was being, but instead she said, "Gabriel… oh! Then…" Ellegaard walked over to a pipe in the corner of the room. She kicked a button on her way there. After a few moments of waiting, she pulled out Gabriel's amulet from the stream. "You must be the ones who sent me this. It just showed up in my office, no note, no explanation."

Jesse pushed Ellegaards neutral and practically emotionless voice to the side. She was excited that Ellegaard was taking them (slightly) seriously.

"Yes, we sent that!" Olivia shouted behind her a bit too excited. Her eyes sparkling with glee.

"Can I have it back now," Jesse held out her hand to take it back. Ellegaard handed it over without hesitating.

She then took a step back, crossed her arm and squared her shoulders.

"Look, you both seem like very pleasant people (who are prone to fainting)," Olivia shrunk in on herself. "but I simply don't have the brain-power for this. I'm in the middle of my greatest project to date; a powerful block capable of altering reality itself!" Jesse smacked her hand to her forehead once again.

"A command block, yeah, we know." Jesse deadpanned displeased.

For once Ellegaard showed some concern when she stumbled back.

"Wai-"

"And it's an awful idea!" Jesse shouted. She threw her hands up in the air with frustration. "It sounds well and good now, but you don't know what that thing could really do." Jesse stressed. "It's dangerous!"

Ellegaard looked around the floor, her hand over her heart, her face showing that she was hurt. Jesse thought she had finally got through Ellegaards thick head.

"How do you know what a Command Block is!" Ellegaard finally shouted in a panic. Deflating all of Jesses' hope. "Not to seem bewittling, but we are talking something that even I haven't figured out how to perfect!"

"This man named Ivor had one," Olivia explained while Jesse was stunned.

Jesse knew Ellegaard was a genius, and she knew she was kind, she respected her greatly, but something about her attitude was starting to make her rage.

"He used it to attack Gabriel at Fey Falls' Endercon, and he created the Witherstorm. We managed to escape with a few others, and Gabriel told us we needed The Order of the Stone."

Ellegaard lost (or hid) the panicked look and replaced it one of unease.

"Sorry to bust your circuits but the Order isn't really 'together' anymore."

"You missed the whole point!" Jesse argued. She decided to stop hiding how bitter she was becoming towards the engineer. "There's a unstoppable monster out there and we need to stop it!"

Ellegaard considered this. Then she turned around towards her crafting table contraption.

"All the more reasons why I need to finish my Command Block! I can use it to fight your Witherstorm or whatever." She waved her hand around, dismissing what Jesse was saying. She turned around to face them confidently, arrogantly. "Necessity is the originator of invention; that monster is my necessity for inventing, of which I am the originator."

"No!" Olivia finally decided to argue against her hero. Which was obviously difficult for her. "You can't make another Command Block!"

"Your Witherstorm was created by a Command Block, yes? That means a Command Block could be the way to beat it!" Ellegaard stepped up to Olivia. Her eyes had dramatically softened. "Will you two help me make one?" She asked specifically Olivia.

Jesse thought that was a low blow.

The young engineer looked down at her feet.

"I don't thin-" Olivia was quickly interupted.

"Excellent!" Ellegaard clasped her hands together.

"No!" Jesse separated Olivia and Ellegaard without touching either. She didn't want to come off as too disrespectful. "Have you lost your mind! A Command Block started all this, and a Command Block isn't going to fix it! It will just cause more harm than it ever will do good! Maybe not now, maybe not in fifty years, but one day."

Ellegaard wasn't affected by her alarming promise.

"If this monster is as deadly as you make it out to be, this could be our only way to stop it. We need to get to work right away." Ellegaard turned around once again.

Jesse ran in front of the hero, both hands out to block her from moving forward.

"I will not let you figure out how to make a Command Block. Fighting fire with fire in this case will make a bigger fire."

Jesse and Ellegaard had a glare off.

Ellegaard wavered, then backed down.

"Alright." Ellegaard finally agreed. Silently and awkwardly, the three exited out of the building. When they got to the only exit, Ellegaard broke the silence, "But I still have no idea why this is so important. How bad-"

The three heard a roar from ways away. Across the sea, the Witherstorm was flying in Redstonia's direction. It's four massive tentacles searching over the ocean surface.

People were already screaming and sobbing in a panic. The more selfless people were crafting boats for the residents to take.

The purple lights from the Witherstorm eyes scanned over the island, picking apart the buildings and scooping up people just like it did all the back in Fey Falls Endercon.

Ellegaard was stunned frozen as ice.

Jesse gripped both Olivia and Ellegaards arms.

"Let's go already!"

* * *

The ride through the Nether back to the temple was completely silent and awkward. None of the three girls wanted to talk. And who could blame them?

Olivia was upset such a wonderful place like Redstonia was now destroyed, and she also felt a little responsible.

Jesse and Ellegaard were quiet for the same reasons. They were afraid and scared for the cities they loved and cared for.

Jesse couldn't help but think of her family that still lived in Oak City. Her younger siblings, her older siblings, her parents, grandparents and childhood friends. The very thought of them all getting devoured by that monster made Jesse want to break down and sob in a darkened cave. She could only hope that they would get out of the city in time, because she couldn't go and save them and boy did she want to try.

Jesse got used to the lump in her throat about halfway through the minecart ride.

Please, please be okay. Jessa, Jace, Jack, Jan, Jean, Mom, Dad, Patrick, Huelia, everyone I haven't mentioned… please be okay.

By the time the three women were out of the Nether it was turning dusk, mobs were starting to come out and Jesse had learned to not look like she was about to burst into tears.

Olivia led to way to the Orders Temple with Jesse in the back. Eventually they were staring at the temple from the top of a nearby hill.

Ellegaards eyes turned even sadder.

"Wow," Ellegaard breathed in a single breath. Her hands clenched and unclenched like a cat retracting and releasing its claws. "this is… ruins." Her lower jaw flexed between each pause, as if she was holding something back. "I guess that's what happens after a decade of never coming home."

Jesse eyed Ellegaard from the opposite side of the hill.

"Home?" Huh? Jesse thought.

She didn't mention it, and neither did Olivia. (If she even realized it.)

The small group slowly made their way down

When Axel and Lukas promised to fortify the place she didn't think they meant with cobblestone, old stone bricks and pumpkins. They got the job done, that's for sure, but the place looked like a disaster.

Jesse knocked on the only part that actually looked fortified, an iron door.

The group of three women waited awkwardly together outside the door. (What else was new?)

Jesse heard a few scruffs across the floor that sent shivers up her spine. It sounded like a zombie, but that wasn't possible…

Her fears were dismissed when sky blue eyes peeked through the door. In less than a second, Lukas threw open door and hugged Jesse, a little tighter than usual but Jesse accepted it. Jesse hugged him back with just as much force.

Just the sight of her boyfriend made Jesse want to cry and tell them about her family. She somehow managed to control herself.

Lukas pulled back with a grim smile. He could tell something was off about her.

"So good to see you again." He looked her up and down for injuries. Jesse smiled lightly.

Olivia scratched the back of her neck.

"Look we brought Ellegaard." Jesse turned to point at Ellegaard. Jesse cleared her throat when she realized her voice was cracking.

Lukas nodded.

"Fantastic," He gritted through his teeth. If Jesse didn't know any better she'd say he sounded displeased.

This time it was Jesse's turn to look Lukas up and down. He looked worse than when she left.

"You don-" Lukas pulled her inside without warning, then motioned for the other two to come in.

Jesse froze upon looking inside the hall.

"Quick, come in!" Lukas exclaimed excitedly. "Look who showed up while you were gone." Olivia looked at where Lukas was pointing. Her face lit up like a torch.

"Petra!" Olivia exclaimed.

Petra was sitting on the floor nearby, back against the wall. She looked weak, with purple bags under her reddish eyes, pasty pale skin and smudges of dirt all across her face. She looked like she'd been through the ringer.

Petra stood up on shaking legs to hug Olivia.

"Hey, everyone," Petras voice cracked. "How's it going." It wasn't a question, just a kind, awkward conversation starter.

"Notch, I'm glad you're okay." Olivia muttered to her friend.

"Thank you." Petra muttered back. Olivia pulled back, still smiling like it was the best day ever.

Ellegaard (who was standing awkwardly in the corner) pulled Olivia to the side with her so she could ask who Petra was and why she was so important.

Jesse could barely wrap her head around the fact Petra was here.

"We thought you were dead!" Jesse blurted when Petra turned to her. Lukas and Petra chuckled dryly.

Petra brought Jesse (who was still stunned) into a hug.

"It's great to see you too, Jess."

Jesse hugged her friend back before pushing her away. It was too weird. Jesse must have fallen asleep during the cart ride and this was all just a dream.

"How on the map did you escape!" Jesse asked. Petras dark brown eyes dimmed.

"I don't know," She answered without any emotion. "You pulled me out and then the portal to the Nether was destroyed and I just ran…" Petra wrapped her arms around herself.

Ellegaard and Olivia walked further into the temple on their own accord, leaving the other three behind. Petra and Jesse followed a bit behind, and Lukas stumbled after the rest.

"lets just say, it's a miracle I'm alive." Petra finished. Jesse set a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"How'd you know where to go." Jesse asked. Lukas turned his head in thought. He never asked that.

"Gabriel told me before," Petras voice cracked a bit. She cleared her throat with a quick cough. "the Witherstorm got him."

Ellegaard halted. She turned around, her eyes wide with distraught and grief.

"Gabriel?" She mumbled. Petra nodded sadly.

"The Witherstorm left nothing behind. Everything, everyone, is gone."

Ellegaard turned back around. The group of friends and the one Order member was in the temples library. Ellegaard was staring at the stairs that led to the Orders map.

"I wouldn't believe anything could defeat Gabriel if I hadn't seen it for myself." The old engineer muttered. "This is terrible." She sent her way up the stairs. Olivia and then Petra, Lukas and Jesse followed.

At the top of the stairs, Ellegaard turned in a circle, looking up at the caved in roof and torn up walls.

"Seeing this place so decimated… makes me feel…" Ellegaard moment of humanity and grief was quickly forgotten when she looked across the hall. There was Axel, who was talking to a stranger with a huge grin. "What is he doing here!?" Ellegaard whispered harshly, pointing at the stranger.

Jesse instantly recognized the man as Magnus the Rogue, one of Ellegaard old friends and Order of the Stone member. The hostility from the legend towards their former friend definitely surprised them all.

"Do you two not like each other?" Petra asked.

Jesse scratched the back of her neck. Childhood friends, friends for over two decades, team members for just as long, fellow legends, worked on dozen of innovative inventions together, but they hate each other? Something wasn't adding up...

"Sorry, forgot to warn you," Lukas butted in through his coughs. "Axel went on a little… adventure of his own while you... were gone... He just got back too." Jesse concerns grew.

"An adventure to get him?" Ellegaard spat bitterly. She turned to Jesse, who didn't feel like dealing with Ellegaards ego. "Did you know about this?"

"No, I didn't." Jesse shook her head, wondering why it mattered. "And why does it matter? N-"

"Why does it matter! I'm not working with the likes of him!"

Jesse crossed her arms, parted her feet and tilted her head up.

"Look Ellegaard, I didn't know. And from where I stand, this is a good thing. Now we have have two members of the Order in one room. You two could work together to figure this out." _Like you did to create TNT, explosive minecarts, arrow dispensers, redstone chest, and many, many more!_

"I am not working with that critin!" Ellegaard swore. Jesse didn't budge.

"You two worked together before, you could do it again." Jesse argued. Petra crossed her arms, glaring at Ellegaard too.

Olivia and Lukas were just standing to the side awkwardly.

The tension broke as soon as Axel came running to hug Jesse. He picked her up and spun her around while he laughed. Jesse was startled at first but then she broke out into giggles.

Axel put her down and they exchanged hellos. Axel hugged Olivia just as ferociously and sneered at Lukas. He didn't acknowledge Ellegaard.

"Guys! Look who I got!" Axel motioned gleefully at Magnus who had his arms crossed and a blank stare on his face.

"Well, this is unexpected." Ellegaard snarked before Jesse could introduce everyone to the Rogue.

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean," Magnus said, his eyes narrowing behind the black bandanna that went across his eyes. His voice was deep and was surprisingly about as smooth as gravel. "but I'm pretty sure, I don't like it."

Jesse smacked a hand to her forehead, something she was starting to get used to doing.

"Yeah, show Magnus some respect." Axel butted in.

Well this escalated quickly.

Petra groaned.

Lukas rolled his eyes.

"Axel, this is Ellegaard you're talking to." Olivia scolded.

"I don't care-" Axel continued but Jesse ignored him completely.

Jesse looked at Petra who was standing next to her.

"Can you referee?" Jesse whispered. Petra nodded equally annoyed.

"Yeah." Jesse nodded her thanks.

"Lukas, Reuben…" Jesse called to the both of them, then made her way down stairs to the library. Reuben, who had been resting at the top of the stairs the whole time and had just woken up (and was running around Jesse's feet) and Lukas followed to see what Jesse wanted to say to them.

 **I am so tired. So very tired. Today's AN is short and too the point. I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for the reviews, please leave a few. They are amazing. I'm sorry for all the mistakes, I didn't put this chapter through as intense an editing than I normally do. ( _You edit?_ Yes I know shocking...)**

 **GUEST RESPONSES!**

 **TheAmberShadow - I never liked Ellegaard either. But everyone chooses Magnus so I wanted to be differnt. Yes, Lukas has wither... I still haven't decided if Petra should. What's your thoughts?**

 **Guest (chapter 10) - Thank you. I hope school is/was going well.**

 **Empire501st- here you go...**

 **nothing else...**

 **bye.**

 **-Kayla.**


	12. Chapter 12

**HI!**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome and so sweet. Thanks. Diamond Fox xpc. Maple. Empire502st. TheAmberShadow and The Sorrowful Deity.**

 **Responses and A MESSAGE are down below!**

 **Lukas**

Lukas knew something was wrong the minute Jesse asked to speak with him. She looked hollow and empty, she acted straight and pointy as a needle and she didn't speak to him on the way down into the library. The deeper they went into the library, the more nervous Lukas got.

 _Is she upset about me and Axels argument?_

Jesse led him to the very back, where it was dark and messy, into the same place they last saw each other before Jesse went on her mission for Ellegaard.

Jesse turned around to help both him and Reuben through the small entrance.

Lukas was coughing, and he was trying to desperately to stop. He didn't need Jesse to worry, or asked questions. That is… if she wasn't here to chew him out for what happened with Axel.

When Lukas was in the room, Jesse's set her head against his chest, and gripped the sides of his jacket. She looked tired and defeated. He felt awful, and not because he was sick.

Lukas asked quietly if she was alright. Her response concerned him; she shook her head.

She looked up at him, her eyes sad and full of unshed tears. Jesse went to kiss her boyfriend but he stopped her.

"No," lukas croaked, turned to the side and coughed into his sleeve. He want to kiss her so bad, but he couldn't. "stop. I…. don't want to get you sick too." Jesse looked him up and down, emotionlessly.

"You look awful." She commented, looking down between their feet.

Lukas sighed, "I kn-"

"You said you'd be okay," Jesse mumbled. "An hour after I left. How long was I gone again?" Lukas hesitated.

Jesse was about to explode, and he needed to be prepared.

"... four days." He muttered. "I think." Jesse nodded, her tears welling up more.

"You promised me you'd be fine." Tears slowly began to fall from her eyes, causing Lukas' heart to crack. "You swore it wasn't a big deal. But it clearly is now." He set both hands on her shoulders in an effort to keep her calm. Though, his coughing wasn't doing him any favors.

"I know what I said. It's just influenza or something-" Jesse brought Lukas into a forceful hug and silently cried into his shoulder.

The young blond sighed and hugged her back, even though her knew this was a bad idea.

"You look awful, Lukas, _awful_." Jesse muttered through her choked sobs. Lukas went into comfort mode.

To be honest, this was the first time Lukas had seen Jesse break down, but it was so natural; holding her, trying to ease her. It felt… nice.

"I probably ate something bad the other day -!"

Jesse chuckled dryly.

"Clearly."

Lukas sighed exasperatedly.

"I'll be fine!" He tried to assure. Keyword… tried.

Maybe needing to push your girlfriend away to cough wasn't the best way to enforce… anything.

Jesse's eyes flashed with fearful anger. When he was done, she shook her head again.

"No, no, no. Stop right there." Jesse poked him in the chest while she went on her rant. Her face was very close to his, concerningly so. "I have had enough of this hoursecrap. You are not just a 'little sick,' you are 'do not do anything for days' sick. And at the worst possible time, too." Jesse started to pace desperately. "I have two heroes who hate each other for no reason, my boyfriend can't catch a bone with my friends and my family might be dead -"

Lukas' heart stopped.

"wha-"

"And now your sick and I can't even kiss you…" Jesse put her head in her hands, shoulders shaking, trying to keep it together but failing, and soft whimpers filling the whole room. Jesse leaned against a bookcase, then slide down to the floor.

Reuben began to whine and whimper at the sight of his owner finally losing control. The compassionate piglet walked over to his co-owner and sat in her lap. Jesse sniffled a little, then opened her arms for the piglet. Reuben oiked comfort as he licked the tears off of Jesses' face with his rough and slobbery tongue.

Jesse mumbled a thank you but she was still crying.

Lukas' heart was cracking. He had no idea what to think.

What did she mean by her family might be dead? She didn't mean… did she… was it possible?

The blond, still coughing, sat down next to the brunette, then put his arms around her shoulders to comfort her. Thank goodness she didn't shy away from him, he didn't know if he could take it if she did.

When Lukas was done coughing, he said in the nicest tone he could muster up, "Hey, Jacey."

Jesse started laughing sadly at the nickname her little sister, Jean, had for her. Notch, Lukas missed Jean and her little lisp. Her huge smile and green eyes. Lukas could only imagine would Jesse must have felt when he reminded her of her only little sister.

Lukas brought Jesse and Reuben onto his lap, even though it was most likely a bad idea and hurt his chest like Nether.

Lukas hissed through his teeth at the pain, but chose to ignore it.

Jesse laid her head against his should and continued to sniffle.

"Now," Lukas cleared his throat to get rid of an oncoming cough. "What happened with your family?"

Through blurry, hot tears and a muffled voice, Jesse explained what happened at Redstonia. The more she told, the more angry Lukas got at everyone from Redstonia. When she finally got to the part about the Witherstorm showing up, Lukas too felt like crying.

The pain he got from knowing such amazing people like Jesses' family could be in mortal danger sickened him, more than the disease quickly killing him ever could. It only made him hate Ivor more.

"What if I never see them again?" Jesse asked through her sobs. "Jace was so excited to move to Beacon Mines next year! I was looking forward to introducing him to my friends. A-and…"

Lukas felt salty tears build up behind his eyelids; it took everything in his power to not let them fall.

"Shhh, shhh," Lukas tried to say through his need to cough and slowly choking up voice. "they are all so smart, they'll be okay!" He ran his fingers through Jesse's soft brownish-black hair. He was thinking that maybe this will calm her down.

Jesse looked up at him.

"But what if-"

"No 'what ifs,'" Lukas snapped. Due to him losing the tiny bit of control he had, he was forced to lean over as far away from Jesse as he could and cough into the floor.

When he was done, he could barely breath. He was panting, sweaty and probably looked like death reincarnated.

"those won't help us now." He told her breathlessly. Jesse leaned back into his chest and started another round of tears.

"I don't know what to do." Jesse admitted.

Lukas knew Jesse was proud in the fact she could be so calm, that she always had an idea of what to do, and that she stuck to her ideas stubbornly. Her confession that she didn't know what to do, must have been really hard for her to admit.

"I know." Lukas sighed broken-heartedly. Her buried his nose in her hair, keeping down another pesky cough. "I know. I'm worried about them too."

They stopped talking for a while after that, they just held each other with Reuben in between them as tightly as possible.

"What are we gonna do?" Jesse asked after her tears were beginning to dry.

Despite everything, her question was extremely vague.

"About your family?" Lukas asked, confused.

"About everything!" Jesse growled frustratedly, tears forming again behind her eyes. Reuben whined in her arms and nuzzled his face into her neck. "About The Order! About you being sick! About us! About-" Lukas hushed her after he registered her pointless concern for him.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He assured.

Jesse jumped back, almost falling off her boyfriends lap and forcing Reuben to abandon his comfortable stop in between his loving owners.

"Like Nether you will!" Jesse snapped back.

Lukas choked on his own saliva from the shock of Jesses' behavior.

The young women's eyes turned softer at the sight of her boyfriends state.

"This isn't working." Jesse mumbled to herself.

Lukas wished sometimes Jesse was more explicit when she said things because what she said made him think that she was about to break up with him.

His heart literally stopped beating.

"I'm so scared." Jesse hiccuped, easing Lukas' worry a little. "I don't know what to do! I can't deal with-" Lukas brought Jesse back onto his lap as gently as he could.

"Shhh, Jesse," he stroked her hair kindly. Jesse sighed. "you need to relax." Jesse sighed through a shaky breath.

"What am I going to do?"

Lukas sighed sadly, a little choked up.

"I don't know." He replied honestly. "But you will figure it out, and I'll be here to support you in every decision, even though I might not be at my best right now."

Jesse curled into a ball against his chest, she was finally getting her breathing under control again.

Once again, Lukas waited for Jesse to relax. Jesse took a few deep breaths. She gripped the sides of his jacket for some stability.

"I want my family." She muttered. Lukas sighed.

"Me too." He whispered back.

"I wish we didn't have to deal with this Witherstorm."

"Me too."

"I look like a wreck."

Lukas burst out laughing.

"Me too."

Jesse looked up at him again.

"I think we need to talk."

Lukas started coughing once again.

"Yeah."

The two talked about Axel and what happened at the temple while Jesse was gone. Every once and awhile, Reuben would oik his thoughts.

Lukas explained what happened between him and Axel the best he could. He tried not to sound frustrated or angry.

"Oh, Axel," Jesse sighed. She was still sitting on his lap, and leaning against his shoulder. Thank goodness she was focused on something other than her family and not crying. "this was worst case scenario."

Lukas waved it off with a shrug.

"Don't stress too much about it, you already have enough on your shoulders."

"I'm just angry that Axel hasn't put it through his thick head yet that you're a decent guy…" Jesse moved her hair out of her face. Then whipped her face clear of crusty tear tracks. "Do you have any idea why Magnus and Ellegaard might hate each other? They were friends for such a long time…"

Lukas had to think about it.

"Not any idea I can think of. I can read from the journal to see if Gabriel mentions any fallout."

"Yeah, check that out."

"As for everything else," Lukas sighed into Jesse's hair. "we'll cross those bridges when we get there okay?"

Jesse hummed pleasantly.

"You're the best."

Lukas snorted. He brushed her hair away from her face so he could actually see her beautiful face.

"I love you." He whispered softly.

Jesse snorted, that broke into soft giggles.

"I love you, too."

Lukas bent down to give Jesse a kiss on her forehead.

"Okay," Lukas whispered. He pushed Jesse off of him gently, then stood up. He offered her his hand. "we've been down here long enough. Come on, we need to get rid of these tear tracks."

Jesse accepted his hand and let him pull her up. Jesse then bent down to pick Reuben up.

Lukas sighed, thinking about the hotheads they would have to deal with once upstairs.

The more he thought about it, the more he kept going back to the same awful idea.

It was dangerous. It was petty….

"You know…" Lukas coughed into his sleeve. "I might actually have an idea…" Like he cared.

"Of what?" Jesse asked, confused. Lukas pulled her and Reuben outta of the room.

"Come on…" he coughed.

"Of what!"

* * *

 **Petra**

With an expressionless face, Petra watched Jesse and Lukas walk down the stairs to the library.

She knew she should be watching the others and monitor their arguing, but Petra didn't care; all she could think about was the exchanges she saw between two of her closest friends. Admittedly, they confused her at first, the way they acted was so contradictory. One minute they could be talking casually and the next they'll look ready to slap each other. It wasn't until she saw how Jesse was willing to go down to the basement that she realized why they acted so strange…

They liked each other. She knew they did; and she knew they knew the other liked them, too.

To be honest, Petra could see it. Jesse was a leader, but she was a bleeding heart and Lukas was a follower who didn't take horsecrap, but then again, he was a follower. Jesse needed someone to keep her stable when she got emotional, and Lukas needed someone to give him strength. Someone to take care of him, in a way. They both had one thing in common, though, they were great at taking care of others, but not themselves.

It was a good match.

It was such a shame.

Petra quickly switched focus to the arguing heroes and friends.

After about five minutes, she was starting to get nowhere. Now, they were just ignoring her shouts of anger to shut up.

"You're insufferable," Ellegaard shouted at Magnus. He snorted like it was funny.

"And you are a pig!" Magnus snapped.

In the time they had been arguing, Petra had learned that Magnus was naturally loud and his voice was really gravely. His normal speaking was others yelling and his whispering was others speaking. Which was weird, because when you think of it in that way, Ellegaard was the one that shouted, got petty and desperate when arguing, while Magnus was the calm, cool one.

Petra made a mental note of that.

As for Jesse and Lukas still being missing… well, she was starting to get nervous for them. They should have finished up by now.

 _Jesse and Lukas better get back here, or the others are going to get suspicious._

Or maybe not, sense the others were too busy gnawing each others head off to even notice Petra was there.

"Alright! Alright!" Petra wished she could get in between the two heroes, then they would give her some attention but they would just shove her away at this point. "Will you all shuddup and show a little dignanty!"

That miraculously got Magnus' and Ellegaards' attention.

"What are you insinuating?" Ellegaard sneered. "I have plenty of dignanty, enough to not work with this two-faced son-"

Magnus turned her to face him.

"Who you callin' 'two faced' you jealous donkey!" Magnus shouted unbelievably loud.

Ellegaard fazed a bit but recovered.

"'Jealous?' Ha! Of what?!"

Petra felt her stomach begin to turn with hate. She hated how they were acting, she hated that they wouldn't listen and she hated that she was already starting to feel tired again.

"You know what! You ruined-" Magnus continued on some more but his voice got lost at the uprising of Axel and Olivia's argument.

Petra turned to face her two friends.

"He should show respect to the greatest inspiration of all time!" Olivia yelled hotly. Axel crossed his large arms, and his unibrow scrunched up.

"Well she should not be calling one of her oldest friends names!" Axel argued.

Olivia threw both hands into the air.

"Magnus is doing the same thing!" Olivia.

"He has an actual reason!" Axel.

"I did you a favor!" Ellegaard.

Petras' head was being bombarded with yelling, loud voices and screaming, causing her to gain a headache. Somewhere along the line, she snapped like a twig; she simply couldn't take it anymore.

Petra turned on her heel and went down the cracked stone staircase into the middle of the library. She stomped through the musky room full of dust and torn pages and began to look in its forgotten chests, and on the ground.

While she was searching, she moved past an area that she knew led to a dead end with no chest. She didn't expect anything of importance to come from it, either. However, she heard both Lukas and Jesses' voices.

Jesse sounded choked up, like she had been crying.

"What am I going to do?" She muttered. Petra heard Lukas sigh sadly, just as choked up.

"I don't know…"

Petra wanted to stay and eavesdrop, but that would be rude and this sounded personal.

Like Petra said earlier, Jesse needed someone to ground her when upset, which Lukas seemed to be doing perfectly. (Even if he claimed to "not know.")

Petra wondered what they were talking about for a second before she continued deeper into the back rooms of the temple.

The back rooms were plain as dirt, made of stone and old bricks, with grass blocks peeking up from the floor. It only had a chest or two inside.

It was without doubt the most abandoned part of the temple, with dust still caking the floor even though Lukas (and Axel, arguably) had been there for days now.

If a slowness potion wasn't in here, Petra was going to have to make one herself. (Which required her looking up how to make one.)

The first chest was empty… enough said.

The second one was a potion chest, stocked full of stale, expired and probably weak potions that only barely worked. It was just what she needed.

A quick second of searching and she had a splash potion of slowness.

When Petra came back up to the top floor, she didn't hesitate to throw the dark grey-ish blue potion. It was a great pleasure seeing Ellegaard, Magnus, Olivia and Axel all slow down till they practically weren't moving a pixel a second.

The great thing about slowness potions that Petra always appreciated and simultaneously hated, was while their bodies were slow, their minds weren't. They knew they could barely move and it caused them to not even try speaking anymore. (Even if they desperately wanted to)

Petra waited patiently next to the group of four with her hands on her hips like an angry grandmother.

The four turned painfully, impossibly slow to the red haired girl, finally giving her some attention.

"I. Said." Petra stressed each word with more than enough bite to make even her friends fear her. "Shut. Up…" Right as planned, the slowness wore off as soon as she was done.

Olivia took off her green beanie and goggles to fix her curly black hair, a nervous habit she had. Axel messed with his gloved hands. The other two were still glaring at each other.

It was a pitiful sight, and Petra felt sorry for the rational two downstairs.

"I did not," Petra told everyone in a calm and slow but spiteful voice. The others flinched, already feeling the scolding lecture they were about to receive. Even the heroes looked uncomfortable. "almost lose my life fighting that wither monster only to see that two of the most respected members of the most respected team on the map turned out to be selfish children who went through a tough breakup -"

"We never dated!" They both said together quickly.

Petra narrowed her eyes at their outburst.

Petra meant it as an exasperation. A throwaway joke. Something that was more of a metaphor. (In a way) Yet, it somehow got a rise out of both Magnus and Ellegaard.

Petra made another note of their behavior. Maybe she will have them figured out by the end of the hour.

"I do not. Give. A. _Crap_!" Petra clapped with anger to the beat of her words. It was either this or strangling them. "Either stop or I'll start treating you like the five-year-olds you are acting like!"

Ellegaard put her hand on her chest; her green eyes wide.

"You can'-" The redstone engineer was cut off by the Nether trader.

"Shut up!" Petra snapped. She tried to suppress her hate for the situation she was in far down, so it wouldn't cause more problems than they already had. They didn't need their heroes dying or leaving.

When Petra felt like she had her anger under control again, she turned and said to Axel and Olivia, "And that goes for you two, too!"

They both had the decency to put their heads down and mumble apologies.

Petra scanned over the two redstone experts and rogues for any indication of a further blowout.

"Good." Petra nodded. She looked around the room they were in; walls were missing, the ceiling was caved in, some things have miraculously survived like posters of diamond swords, potions, redstone, bows and TNT, but not much else of importance. It sucked that this was probably the best place to sleep for the night. "Olivia- Axel- go over there in that corner and start clearing a way for a place to sleep tonight, please."

Petra was talking about the far corner directly opposite to wear they were standing next to the top of the stairs that led to the library; it was close to the map and had the least amount of holes in the floor.

They both protested, saying they thought the library was best, but Petra quickly dismissed their claims. (To be honest she just needed them to leave) The library was dark and connected to other unlit rooms, the place reeked of animal and the rooms were small. They couldn't fit everyone in a place that was comfortable and safe.

This was, again, the only option they knew of.

Olivia sighed, Axel growled, then they left together to clear a place to sleep for the night.

The young trader pulled her blue bandana off her red head and untied the knot. All the while, the two legends glared at each other with disgust.

"Finally." Petra muttered, relieved that those two were out of the way for the time being. (She loved them, truly, but she needed to speak to Magnus and Ellegaard alone.)

Petra took a second for herself by fixing her disastrous hair and putting it back in her bandana. For her, the piece of cloth was like putting her hair in a hat; she got most of it to stay in place, but, for the most part, a lot of loose strands circled her head. It was how she liked it, even though she knew it looked strange.

While she was tying her hair up, she kept glancing at Magnus and Ellegaard across from her.

Petra knew that for Magnus and Ellegaard, it was awkward standing there, waiting for her to say something else. She continued to not speak, however, because she wanted them to simmer in it for as long as possible.

When she was done, Petra crossed her arms.

"Now, lets get something clear," She began with a harsh whisper. The two Heroes tensed at her tone. "You two will work together. Period. End of discussion. You two will respect each other like the old friends you're supposed to be and you will help us figure out how to beat this wither monster. Understand."

The whole time, during her speech, Petra made gestures with her hands like she was talking to a small child. She also talked slow and a bit sarcastically; it was the only way to get it past their thick heads.

Magnus eyes hardened and he crossed his arms, but he did look slightly ashamed at his behavior.

Ellegaard just look insulted the whole time.

They both gave harsh looks at the trader, before they reluctantly nodded.

"I must admit," Ellegaard said with a bite in her voice towards Petra. She fixed her uneven armor while she talked. "the Witherstorm that showed up at Redstonia looked impossible to beat." Magnus hummed sarcastically.

"Ahh, couldn't think it away, could you?" Magnus replied dryly, almost subtly.

It was…odd. For Petra, who could read people like the back of her hand, first impressions were supposed to give a lot of information, but what she expected was not what she got. In fact, both Ellegaard and Magnus were the opposite of what Petra expected.

Ellegaard whirled around to face Magnus, not looking angry this time but fearful.

"You weren't there!" She huffed. She crossed her arms sadly, then looked down at the ground; her eyes never lost their passion. For a few seconds, Petra saw the hero she thought she knew; someone smart, brave and determined, even when horrified.

"It…" Ellegaard stuttered trying to find the correct words. She ran her hand through her hair. "it tore up the ground the way a hundred miners could with enchanted diamond pickaxes would. It ate anything in its vicinity. I was lucky to make it out alive… but others…" Ellegaard shuddered at the thought.

Petra looked away from Ellegaard, because she too was thinking off all the people she had lost back at Beacon Mines for the first time. While all her friends survived, others weren't so lucky.

If she had fought to save them, like she wanted, she would be dead.

Magnus eyes stayed hard, and his expression didn't waver.

"How tall was it?" He asked without any emotion. From the corner of Petras eyes she saw Magnus' hands twitch back and forth; he wanted to punch something.

"Bigger than Soren's Mountain." Ellegaard whispered with a shaky sigh. The old engineer began to gain her composer and slight elegance back.

Petra nodded slightly, then looked at Magnus for a response.

He didn't do anything, just stood there with his arms crossed, hands twitching.

"Impossible." He finally said. "You're pulling my leg." Ellegaard rolled her annoyed green eyes.

"Why would you think I'm lying." She replied angrily, putting both hands on her hips.

Petra could feel another argument coming before Magnus even opened to say, "Must I remind-"

"Uh-hemmm!" Petra coughed into her fist to warn them that she was not putting up with them again.

Magnus and Ellegaard turned at the time and they both eyed her, but this time was different. They weren't annoyed with her, or glaring at her, they looked at her with confusion and awe.

Petra got goosebumps from their stares. Now she could feel the awkwardness seep in.

They stayed like that for a few moments, until Magnus and Ellegaards' eyes suddenly went hard together and turned back to one another like Petra wasn't there anymore.

"Who cares how big it is," Ellegaard continued the conversation. "It tears up the ground like a thousand miners with enchanted diamond pickaxes! I think that should give you a good enough reason to be afraid!"

Magnus shifted the weight on from one foot to the other.

"Hmm." He grudgingly responded, though he didn't sound convinced.

Ellegaard noticed too and growled.

"Even if it's half the size I claim it to be, we'd still need a mountain of TNT to kill it." Magnus thought for a moment. He crossed his arms, looked at the floor, then nodded again; finally agreeing with Ellegaard.

"You have a point." He grumbled thoughtfully. He looked back up with a mock smile on his lips. "Problem, Ellie, you see, I don't have that kind of time and even if we had all the TNT for hills, that still wouldn't be the amount you claim we need."

Ellegaard sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose as she said, "I wish Soren were here; he might have something that could help us."

Magnus threw his head back and burst into a groan.

"I'm not listening to you brag about your and Soren's brain club," Magnus complained. He huffed, annoyed.

Out of the blue, Petra watched as Magnus' eyes grew thoughtful, and he titled his to the side.

Ellegaard sneered, "I'm not bragg-"

"Hold on - be quiet…" Magnus said quickly, then trailed off.

"Don't tell me t-"

"I said be quiet. I think I might have an idea…"

"That'd be a first…" Petra coughed once again to shut Ellegaard up once again.

She wondered if Jesse and Olivia had to put up with this back in Redstonia.

Just as Ellegaard was about to snap, and Petra was about to lose her mind, Jesse, Lukas and Reuben came back up from the library. They stopped dead next to Petra to examine the damage that had been done in their absence.

Petra expected them to have tear tracks and puffy eyes, but they both looked better than before; not a hint of what she heard downstairs. It was a bit of a shock.

Small detail, but Lukas was also caring two red-orange potions in his hands.

Ellegaard went back to debating with Magnus, who remained vague and grumpy.

"How's it going?" Jesse muttered silently to Petra, voice as elegant as ever.

Petra leaned away from Jesse, she was so disturbed.

"Better than before," she replied dryly, arms crossed again. "I'll tell you that." Jesse grumbled a few things unheard by Petra.

Jesse then looked down at Reuben and snapped her fingers to gain his attention. Once Reuben gave it, the brunette pointed towards Axel and Olivia, who at this point were talking.

"Sorry," She apologized, arms crossed as well while they both watched Magnus and Ellegaard argued silently with each other and Reuben was trotting away. "I had to ask Lukas what happened between him and Axel." Petra leaned forward to look at Lukas, who was standing next to his crush.

He nodded.

"No problem," Petra brushed off the couples lie. They would tell her in their own time. (If she doesn't mention it first, that is.) "Did'ya figure it out?"

Jesse rocked on the balls of her feet and bit her lip. It was Jesses' tell that she was lying. And by the way Lukas was eyeing her, he knew it too.

Interesting...

"Yeah." Lukas replied for Jesse.

Lukas was tougher to decipher; when you lie your whole life, lying becomes second nature. No tells.

Too bad Jesse gave it away.

 _So neither are going to elaborate, Petra thought. All right then._

Jesse cleared her throat, then clapped her hands together.

"Magnus, Ellegaard," Jesse interrupted their conversation by pushing the two debate savvy heroes apart.

Petra tilted her head to the side at the move. She didn't expect Jesse to do such a thing.

"Lukas has something for you two," Jesse pointed to the two potions in Lukas' hands, each serving four pixels high.

Through silent coughs, Lukas said, "Drink this."

Petra stared at the potions. She had been wondering what they were, but now she was trying to figure it out herself. However, the strangest thing was she didn't know what the dark red-orang-y potion did, but she recognized it. You could actually find them a coal a dozen in big cities. Petra has admittedly always wanted to try one.

"What the Nether is that?" Ellegaard pointed at the bottles, obviously nervous.

Lukas coughed into his fist.

"It's a potion." He answered dryly through his coughs.

Magnus burst out laughing.

"I know my potions and that is not any potion I've ever seen!" Magnus said through his laughter.

Lukas tilted his head to the side. Then proceeded to just stand there. Eventually he had to cough again.

"Surprising, sense you're a griefer." The blond commented off handedly through a few coughs.

Magnus laughter came to a halting stop. He seemed shocked, but more than that, he looked pissed. He stood up straighter.

"What does me being a griefer have anything to do with it?!" He snapped. He crossed his arms and was taking deep breaths, as if he was controlling his anger.

 _Sensitive to his griefer status… weird._

"Just drink it." Petra cut in before Magnus went on a rampage.

Magnus growled under his breath.

He pointed at it, and spat, "What's in it?"

Lukas held up a figure to finish coughing.

While Lukas was coughing, a slight breeze came through, giving everyone a shiver. The massive significance was that Lukas was generating more wind than the breeze.

Petra took a deep breath at the simple realization.

He is really sick.

The builder steadied his coughing long enough to talk, with only slight pauses to cough a little.

"Its a level three strength potion, level two splash potion of weakness… and level one night vision potion with two gold nuggets…. and half a cauldron of a Mundane Potion cooked…. cooked for three minutes in a charcoal furnace. Now, drink. It."

Halfway through Lukas' speech , the two heroes jaws slowly fell to the floor in shock. They both stood there, crazy eyed and pale as a ghast.

Magnus eyes turned lustful.

"You know how to mix potions." Magnus said robotically.

Lukas saw the crazed look in Magnus' eye and stepped back a little.

"Yes, and I'm not teaching anyone." Magnus didn't seem to care as the blond handed one bottle to the griefer.

Magnus drank it without hesitation and to the last drop. When he was done, he sighed. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, his eyes went dull like a dolls.

Ellegaard did not take the potion when she was offered it.

"Mixing potions and drinking them is illegal." She told Lukas warily. She was beginning to look at him differently in a, 'I'm in the room with a criminal,' way.

Lukas was not phased.

"I had bad influences in high school. Drink." He forcefully shoved the bottle into Ellegaards hands.

Ellegaard swished the liquid around, looked at how brain dead Magnus was at that moment, and took a shaky breath.

She glared at the three of them before she drank the potion. Just like Magnus, her eyes also went dull.

Lukas nodded satisfied.

"It's a Peace potion," Lukas coughed. Petra wrinkled her eyebrows at the name. She had never heard of it.

"What on the map is a Peace Potion?"

Lukas sighed a little and massaged his throat.

"A peace potion makes it practically impossible to argue with anyone. Now, they can disagree, get upset, but they can not argue with another."

Petra eyes went wide at the possibilities a simple Potion of Peace could do.

"Why doesn't everyone drink those things?"

"Negative side effects and addictive as Nether." Lukas answered instantly, and eyed her from the side. For a few seconds, Petra felt ashamed she even asked.

Jesse went around circling the old members to examine them, she snapped her fingers in front of their blank faces only to find that nothing happened.

"How addictive, again?" Jesse asked Lukas casually.

Petra didn't know if she should have been worried or confused that Jesse was so casual about this.

"It was the second leading cause of death and first leading cause of murder back when Potion mixing was legal." Lukas answered just as casually as his crush.

Petra shook her head.

She didn't want to try it anymore.

"What the Nether," Petra mumbled with a hand running through her hair.

Lukas shrugged.

"The only thing more addicting is Energy Potion, but that's a different reason I'd better not go into."

"Are they okay?"

"They're fine."

Jesse snapped her fingers in front of their eyes a second time. They didn't respond.

Both girls gave Lukas a look that made him shift his weight.

"They'll be loopy for a few minutes, but fine."

Petra looked between the two love birds.

As much as the wither monster situation sucked, she wondered if some part of this was actually good. Great, maybe. She had learned more about the people she looked up to and her own friends more than she ever had. She learned Lukas and Jesse wanted to be together. That Lukas had a dark side. She learned her heroes were (kinda) petty and a little idiotic. She learned Axel and Olivia were a little more naive than they let on.

All things she never saw and most likely would have never seen any other way.

It was fascinating how much Petra had learned, how much information she had to throw out because of these last few hours.

This mission was stripping them all bare to the real people they were, and Petra wondered what the others had learned about her. Who was she bare and vulnerable.

She wasn't as collected, thats for sure. She wasn't as big a leader as she thought she was, she was a lot more nervous then she knew she could be. She found herself following in others footsteps, and blindly following a person she never thought could ever be a leader in such high tense situations. She was backup support, truly and honestly.

Petra had to dwell on it before she could except it.

Backup, just backup.

"How do you know how to mix potions?" Jesse asked while Petra thought to herself.

"Like I said, bad influences." Lukas choked on his tongue. Jesse frowned and rolled her eyes with the unnecessarily vague answer.

Doesn't sound like you care about that tidbit.

Another soft breeze tickled everyones skin, causing everyone to shiver. The sun was finally setting, taking away its warmth and comfort for the deadly uncertainty of the night and moon.

Petra examined the horizon and the sun for any indication danger was coming.

"Anyway, Magnus," Petra said dryly. She turned back to him. "you said you had an idea on how to defeat this Wither monster?" Jesse raised a finger in the air.

"We call it 'The Witherstorm.'" Jesse told her informatively. Petra nodded.

"So I've heard. Magnus? Yoohoo," Petra stepped in front of the Rogue. "Magnus. What's your idea? How do we defeat the Wither monster?"

Petra clapped a few times, both Magnus and Ellegaard shook their heads and got out of their daze.

"Oh… ahh…" Magnus blinked multiple times, and held his head in his hand. He took a few moments to get his head back on straight. "Soren had something called the "Formidi-bomb'. He claimed that dropping it could destroy anything." Ellegaard was holding her head similar to Magnus.

"Yes," she agreed with a yawn. "but no one has ever seen it before. It might not even be real." Magnus eyes flashed twice, once with anger, then again with understanding.

Petra could only wonder if that was just Magnus, or the potion. She guessed it was the latter.

"Oh, it's real," Magnus said in a quiet, for him, monotone voice. (Definitely the potion). "Soren and I worked for years on the recipe."

Jesse jumped in her spot at the news.

"Then you know how to make it!" The young brunette exclaimed.

Magnus shook his head, arms still crossed.

"Ah, no, I don't." He said in his normal loud and gravelly voice. "Look, we had our fallout," He motioned to him and Ellie. "And then Soren went off the rails. Gabriel tried to keep us all together but he eventually grew tired of us all. Two years later I got a message from Soren saying he figured out how to make the "Formidi-bomb." That was the last time had any contact with him."

Jesse covered her mouth with her fist so she could think.

"What else did he say?" Jesse mumbled through her fist. Magnus shrugged.

"Nothing." Jesse let out a string of curse words and she began to pace.

Petra was with her, they had a lead but something always went wrong.

"Sounds like Soren. He was always a mysterious one." Ellegaard commented.

Magnus grunted.

"You got that right."

They stood around wondering how they were going to make this work. What do you do when you need a crafting recipe to an object that may, or may not, even exist.

This was a huge joke. A giant, unfunny, dangerous joke.

"Hey Petra," Petra looked up and greeted Axel, Olivia and Reuben, who had returned from there assignment.

"we finished clearing up the area over there." Olivia said, motioning with her head to the little area across the room.

"What are you guys talking about." Axel asked. Reuben oiked his version of Axel's questions.

The little piglet silently sat down in between Lukas and Jesse, with a heavier lean towards Lukas, surprisingly.

Petra paused to stare at the piglet. Was it at all possible that Reuben knew that Lukas and Jesse liked each other, and was leaning towards Lukas because he was sick?

Reuben was smart beyond a normal pig, it wasn't totally insane.

Petras thoughts were interrupted by Jesse.

"Magnus has a way to defeat the Witherstorm," Jesse answered, sounding tired. "but we need to find Soren. Did I get that right?" Magnus nodded.

"Yup."

"Fantastic."

Axel and Olivia shared a look.

They weren't tired, concerned or worried like Jesse and Lukas. They weren't calm but worried like Magnus and Ellegaard. And they weren't thoughtful and worried like Petra. They were just… confused.

"Where is he?" Olivia asked.

Magnus shrugged

"Nether if I know."

Everyone looked at Ellegaard for her answer.

She squared her shoulders, uncomfortable but not able to argue.

"I sadly haven't heard from him in years, he's very… reclusive, now."

Magnus hummed.

"Gabriel supposedly kept in contact with him..." he trailed, or more like cut himself, off. He looked up at the small group of friends that brought him and his old friend, now emeny, back together in a desperate attempt to save the world.

He looked, for lack of a better word, confused.

"What happened to Gabriel?" Magnus asked all of them, his voice was still loud and gravelly but it was also… softer, in a way. "Axel said he was the one who sent him."

Axel nodded, then looked at Petra for answers.

"Yeah, what happened to him?"

The room grew tense as the ones who knew about Gabriels fate didn't answer and their faces grew dark. The silence was deafening and overwhelming, grating against their skin.

Petra broke the silence with a sigh. She brought her hand up to her forehead.

Ellegaard, who actually looked sick, set a hand on her old friends shoulder.

"Why don't we go and talk." Ellegaard said hollowly, the potion speaking for her. Magnus shrugged Ellegaards hand off.

"Why?" He asked warily.

Magnus repeated the question when he received no answer.

Ellegaard was turning a mild green, definitely fighting the potion with everything she had.

No one seemed to care.

"You guys found us," Ellegaard blurted, sounding like she was in literal pain. "You guys can find Soren. We believe in you five, just give us a few minutes alone."

Axel shared a look with everyone but Lukas. (who was still coughing every once in a while)

Everyone, but Lukas, nodded.

"Ahhh, sure…" Axel agreed, turned on his heel, and led his friends away from the two heroes.

While they walked away, Petra filled Axel in on the news.

Axel looked upset, but the least so. Petra knew that while he admired Gabriel greatly, the warrior was Axels least favorite member in the Order. If you thought about it, it did make sense. Axel was not a fighter, he was a Griefer; AKA, a builder, a redstone expert and an explosives expertise, fighting is not in that list.

In other words, Petra couldn't judge.

The group of five sat down together. Olivia and Axel on one side, Petra in the middle and Jesse and Lukas on the other, with Reuben roaming around in front of them.

The group leaned against the crumbling grey wall and watched the heroes in front of them not too far away.

Ellegaard was hunched over, turning a sickly shade of grass green the more she talked to Magnus, and he was standing there with his arms crossed and eyes to the ground. He set his hand on her shoulder and told her something that got rid of the green on her face. From that point on, they talked a bit more normal, but sometimes they'd look pained or hurt, just to keep talking anyway.

"I can't believe it." Axel said, breaking the silence.

"They are getting along!" Olivia finished, just as shocked and thrilled. Lukas, who was curled in a ball, hummed, "Peace Potion, works wonders."

Jesse chuckled dryly.

"That sounds like a bad slogan."

Reuben and Lukas giggled softly with her. They were so comfortable around each other, how could the others not see it.

Speaking of Lukas, he was starting to look sick again; pale faced, tired and purple rimmed his eyes.

Purple? Petra titled her head. Purple…

"Are you okay, Lukas?" Petra asked. Lukas mumbled something under his breath sleepily.

"He managed to catch a glitch." Jesse answered and elbowed Lukas back awake. Reuben oiked to confirm Jesses' statement.

Axel and Olivia both groaned or growled.

"Oh great." Olivia sighed.

"Leave it to the Ocelot to get sick at the worst of times." Axel growled bitterly. Olivia and Petra elbowed him for the disrespect.

Axel cried out indignantly like he didn't deserve it.

"Hey! I'm not the one coughing up a tornado!" Axel exclaimed his point to Olivia and Petra.

"I didn't ask to get sick!" Lukas argued back as he leaned over Jesse to glare at Axel. Jesse pushed Lukas back in his seat and told Axel to back off.

Petra loved Axel like a brother, but sometimes he was an idiot. He held grudges that didn't need to be held and said things that didn't need to be said. It would make this trip so much easier if he would just stop treating Lukas like scum.

As if Reuben was reading Petra's mind, the little piglet went walking up to Axel with grunts and oils of disapproval. After he gave his oik-y verbal beatdown, that no one really understood, Reuben sat in Lukas' lap and oiked a few more times. The pig nuzzled the blonds shirt and jacket, he looked like he was trying to lift Lukas' shirt up with his nose.

Petra thought it was odd, and found it even stranger when Lukas got a panicked look in his eyes. He pushed Reuben away onto Jesses' lap with a quiet, "enough."

Petra took another good look at the three on her left.

The silence that followed was not great. It was stiff, uncomfortable and awkward.

Olivia clapped her hands together in an effort to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.

"Why don't we just turn on the tracker." The young engineer motioned to the levers in the middle of the room.

Axel sighed and began to sit up.

"Jess and I will get on that." Axel stretched a bit, then offered his hand to Jesse. "You three can go lay down here." Jesse accepted her friends hand and Axel pulled her onto her feet.

Olivia nodded.

"Sounds good." She agreed.

Petra and Lukas nodded too.

Reuben had a weird reaction to Jesse leaving; he bit her pant leg, begged her to stay, but Jesse snapped her fingers and pointed at Lukas.

Reuben forced himself to stay behind when Jesse and Axel left. e lowered his head, oiked, then (surprisingly) climbed into Petras' lap.

At first the redhead didn't know what to do and froze. Reuben was never really this with her. If anything he was kind of indifferent to her.

Petra, feeling awkward, began to stroke Reubens back.

Lukas looked hurt but didn't verbally say anything.

A few moments past and little changed. The Order members were still talking, Olivia wasn't saying anything, Lukas and Reuben were having a silent conversation that Petra didn't understand and Petra was slowly growing more and more tired.

"Ahhg, I feel awful." Petra set her arm against her forehead like it would make her feel better. Olivia hummed, her eyes closed.

"I shoulda used emerald hearts." Lukas said almost out of nowhere. He went to rub Reubens ear but the piglet scooted away.

"Why does that matter?" Olivia yawned while she took her beanie off her head.

"Energy potion last longer."

"Oh." Olivia leaned against the wall in a curled ball position, facing Petra and Lukas. "You wanted to be an alchemist, right Lukas?"

"Yeah." Lukas began coughing instantly after his response.

Petra felt Reuben shake a bit in her lap.

Petra wrote it off as Reuben being cold. The sun was almost completely under the horizon.

"You did?" Petra said, wanting to continue the conversation. I thought you wanted to be a builder.

Lukas nodded emotionlessly.

Petra snorted, "Actually, I'm not surprised. You'd make a great nerd."

Lukas rolled his eyes.

"Thanks…"

Petra smirked and went back to petting Reuben.

She knew that Lukas was smart and he obviously knew a bit about potions but there was a difference between knowing a little and wanting it as a career choice.

Olivia looked like she agreed because she said to Lukas, "For someone who says they're 'late to the game' you sure know a lot."

Petra had lost where this conversation had gone to.

"Yeah…" Lukas mumbled sarcastically. "I know a lot 'bout something that is outlawed in every part of the map."

"Well you have to know about the potions first before mixing them, right?"

Olivia's argument left Lukas speechless.

"Drop it, Olivia."

Petra was a little mad that Lukas suddenly got so angry out of nowhere. She didn't need another Axel or Ellegaard.

"Hey, don't-" she would have said more if Lukas didn't start coughing really bad.

Petra and Olivia didn't say anything as Lukas was choking on his own tongue.

He's only getting worse. Why hasn't he taken a healing or regeneration potion? It might not get rid of the virus but it will make him better.

"Hey Olivia!" Axel's voice interupted Lukas' coughing fit and Petras thoughts from halfway across the room. "We can't remember the combination! Can you help us!" Olivia cleared her throat and quickly stood.

"Be right there!" Olivia turned to her two tired looking friends. She looked down at her red vest and white shirt for something that wasn't there. She sighed disappointedly. "Get some rest you two, you both look awful."

Petra nodded and Lukas hummed.

After Olivia left, Petra didn't know what to do. She thought a little bit about the Wither Monster and a little about Lukas' sickness.

Something wasn't adding up. Lukas did not look sick at all when they were running from the monster, the opposite in fact. His health was also depleting too rapidly at once for it to be a cold or the flu. Lukas was too smart to not see health potions as a quick way to feel or get better.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Lukas pulled out a health and drank it in one sitting. He threw the potion not to far away and in a way that didn't draw any attention.

Lukas got color back in his cheeks but he still looked awful. The purple didn't go away either.

Petra wished she had an idea of what was wrong, but she didn't.

"How was your talk with Jess?" Petra asked Lukas.

Lukas hummed again. He gave no other explanation that that.

Petra knew she couldn't figure out Lukas' sickness problem, so maybe it's time to switch gears to something else...

"You know," Petra started. "I told Jesse that she should give you a chance at friendship and she seems to have taken it very quickly. You guys seem close now."

She wondered if she could get Lukas to admit to her that he had a crush on Jesse. That would make everything much easier.

"Guess'so" was lukas' less than stellar response.

Petra rolled her eyes.

"Have you guys talked before?" She wasn't expected the response she was given, at all.

"Many times, yeah." Lukas answered quickly.

Petra had to take a minute to remember what Lukas said.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Lukas mumbled. "we aren't friends but we have spoken a lot. I normally tell her sorry for my friends being jerks, she says don't worry about it and that she appreciates me stopping them when I get the chance. I also helped with her original treehouse way back when…" lukas trailed off sadly.

Petra wanted to comment on the fact that he helped with Jesse's tree house but decided against it. She needed this to be a natural confession if it is to mean anything.

"Why aren't you friends?" Lukas shrugged.

"Things changed between us."

"Like what?"

"We grew…"

"Apart?"

He didn't answer, he just left it at that. His eyes were starting to droop and his breathing was slowing down.

"You like her." Petra finally said, not as a question but as a statement, like she only just realized it.

Lukas blinked his sleepy eyes open and frowned.

"How'd you come to that conclusion."

"I saw how you treated her, how she treats you. You were comforting her down in the library after you two left."

Lukas raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you…"

"I had to grab a slowness potion to shut everyone up, I didn't hear or see much though. It was obviously personal."

Lukas didn't say anything that confirmed or denied her suspicions.

"Bottom line is," Petra sighed and stretched her arms to make it look like she didn't care. "you have a crush on her. And she on you."

Lukas eyes closed again, but he was smiling and chuckling.

"Really that obvious?"

Petra snapped her head to look at him.

Did… did she really get a confession? She didn't think it would be this easy.

"Oh, yeah," Petra went back to facing forward. She played it off cool and calm. "At least to me."

Petra wished that Lukas continued the conversation, but he didn't. He simply went on trying to sleep as if nothing happened.

"You have nothing to say?" Petra asked him.

Lukas hummed.

"Not really anything I can say with Axel and Olivia here."

Petra didn't understand, and she had to pause.

"W-...what are you hiding from me, Lukas?"

"A lot."

"Stop being vague, you know how much I hate that."

Lukas began to cough once again.

"Honestly Petra," lukas said through his coughs. "I trust you but now isn't the time. I'm tired, your tired and we have a long walk ahead of us. I'm taking a nap. G'night." Lukas turned around and got himself comfortable, but he was still coughing silently to himself.

 ** _THIS IS A BREIF/LONG MESSAGE_ for all the fans of this story and really any fans of fanfiction. I recently join a Discord Server called Immortals Gathering.**

 **For anyone who doesn't know what Discord is, it's a completely free messaging website and app available on Apple and Android devices, where you get to talk with people around the world. It is absolutely amazing, and I have made a lot of friends through Discord. It is so much fun getting to talk to people you otherwise would have never come across.**

 **Immortals Gathering is one of the servers I have joined. This is a server for fanfiction authors and their fans! If you're a fanfiction author looking to get in touch with your fans, then this is a great way to interact with them, and a great way to meet others who like the same story as you. Or, if you're just a fan looking to get in touch with your favorite author, come join! Even if you join just to make sure an idea of yours is heard, join. You will not regret it.**

 **If you are interesting in joining. Just type in the following URL,** discord. gg /Yy4mj63 (take out the spaces) **, and press accept invite at the bottom of your screen. If you have Discord, you will instantly be taken to the server. if you don't, thats okay! You will just be asked to put in your email and a username. Verify your email and BAM, you have a discord account and you are apart Immortals Gathering.**

 **My personal channel where notification signal my every update is towards the bottom of the server. I'm under the category AVERAGE. :)**

 **My channel name is the same as My Username on Fanfiction. Mikaza1498.**

 **hope to see you guys there. ;)**

 **Alright guys, now that is out of the way. Here is a long chapter XD.**

 **This month has been busy with Back to school and 2 full week vacations. (So tortured amiright?) but seriously, I've been busy even if it's with not bad stuff. I couldn't right that quick and I'm sorry. Forgive me.**

 **I'm sorry this sucks so much, and I'm sorry for the grammar and spelling. :D**

 **Alright.**

 **RESPONSES TO GUEST**

 **Maple - thank you so much. You are too kind. :D**

 **TheAmberShadow - I'm glad you like the potion mixing. I'm glad you like my Jesse XD. About her family…. maybe XD. We'll see. Having Petra have it would be too worrisome for me I decided. Thanks for your input.**

 **Okay guys. Time for me to leave. I hope to see you guys on discord! Thank you for reading.**

 **Bye!**

 **-Kayla**


	13. Chapter 13

**PLEASE READ**

 **PLEASE READ**

 **PLEASE READ**

 **Call it what you wish, lack of passion, lack of drive, lack of motivation. But to me, as of late, sense the school year started I have been extremely busy and when I'm not cramming to make sure I get my homework in on time I am too tired to write anything or get distracted easily. I haven't written much in a while. And with the recent hacking in , It has given me time to think… really think. Don't worry, I am not leaving FanFiction, nor will I stop writing fanfiction, but I think its time that I, for lack of a better term, started over. Turned over a new leaf. Which involves me, putting an end to this story and focusing on other projects that I've been wanting to do for months and months but this story has… no offense to you readers, has held me back.**

 **My sister and I have been planning a Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction for coming up 2 years now, and I want to start putting all my effort into that and my own original writing. I am very sorry. I appreciate every reader I have, and I love every person here. But it is time to end this here. But please, if you know that cartoon and love it then please be on the lookout for my sis and I's fanfiction. I can't wait to see if anyone follows us there. ^-^**

 **Thank you for sticking with my terrible writing for this long. I believe that you guys can come up with an ending to this story on your own, something better than I ever could. Something that would satisfy YOU and make YOU happy. Whether the ending is happy, traumatic or sad. YOU can make it wonderful.**

 **I believe in you guys.**

 **I didn't want to leave you guys empty handed, a goodbye and thats it. So here is a gift. This is some of the dialogue I wrote for this chapter, I write the dialogue first then write everything else. I hope you guys enjoy these conversations I had planned.**

 **So with this gift, See you in the next adventure.**

The setup is Jesse and Lukas have fallen into the pit where the enderman are. They are walking down towards the river they can clearly hear. 

"Hey, have you read Gabriel's journal? Have you figured out why Magnus and Ellegaard hate each other." Jesse

"I've been reading it, yeah. *cough* so the book is basically split into parts. The first half is his early life, how he met his friends. Its the biggest section. The second part is how they decided to become adventurers, that's the shortest. The third is just as small but is packed with more details, it's about background stuff of their adventures. A lot of pages are ripped out in that section too which I thought was weird. And the fourth is their fallout." Lukas

"Alright, explain." Jesse

"the fourth is the second largest,and it has the most details. Fights, moving, miscommunication and stress seemed to crumbled their friendship to the ground. I haven't been able to get far into the fourth part because its so full." Lukas

"what have you figured out?" Jesse

"their friendships with each other was crumpling to the ground… except Magnus' and Ellegaards'." Lukas

"I… what?" Jesse

"They were really close." Lukas

"How is that possible! They hate each other!" Jesse

"I only just started reading their fallout, right now its only about how much they lobed each other… and by that I loved each other." Lukas

*Jesse chokes*

"They never officially dated but it was pretty clear that they were more than friends to… well… everyone." Lukas

"That's impossible! They can't even look at each other!" Jesse

"I haven't figured out why they are the way they are now. But do you know Colabia?" Lukas

"The legend?" Jesse

"Mhm." Lukas

"Course I know that legend." Jesse

"Turns out its real, Magnus and Ellegaard built and lived in the city… together." Lukas

"But… but…" Jesse

"I guess after their fallout they abandoned the city, and closed its gates. Still don't know what happened…" Lukas

…..

…

*Lukas shoulder tap Jesse*

"Wanna know whats weird?" Lukas

"What could be any weirder that knowing two people who despise each other used to have a bit more of a crush on each other!" Jesse

*Lukas shoulder bumps Jesse*

"Knowing this took place during the Redstone Revolution." Lukas

…

"What?" Jesse

"If you look at it carefully, they started building Colabia at the beginning of the Redstone Revolution. And had to have had their fallout either right before the end, or just after the Redstone Revolution ended." Lukas

….

….

"Then started the Griefer Uprising?" Jesse

"Then started the Griefer Uprising." lukas *nod nod*

...

...

"Something's not right." Jesse

"That's what I am hinting at." Lukas

"Didn't Magnus say he couldn't leave Boom Town for years?" Jesse

"Did he?" Lukas

"Yes." Jesse

"... thats even more odd." Lukas

"Think it's all linked together." Jesse

"... Notch I hope not." lukas

…..

….

….

"Here's the water?" Jesse

"I'm just wondering why is there watERRRR" Lukas

*enderman knocks them over*

….

*the two get thrown around a bit, a few bumps a few bruises as they rush along like pebbles in the river*

*they fall over the waterfall*

*Lukas burst out of the water gasping, everything hurts for him*

*jesse comes up, swimming, a little bruised but okay*

….

"Glasjdhnrrnfnf" Lukas

"Lukas!" Jesse

"*cough cough cough*"

"Lukas!"

*Jesse swims over and grabs him*

..

"Hang onto me!"

"*cough cough*"

*swims lukas over to a rock*

"Are you okay?"

*cough cough*

….

…

"You look…"

*Lukas lips are black *

*purple eyes are becoming watery*

"Lukas…"

"Not now…" Lukas

"But…" Jesse

"Not now." Lukas

"Lukas that's not the flu." Jesse

"Please Jesse…"

"Come on, let's get you to shore." Jesse

*jesse swims both over to land*

*eleegaard and Magnus are fighting*

"You bitch!" Ellegaard

"You never listen to me!" Magnus

"Why should I listen to you? You can't do anything!"

"Stop treating me like I'm useless!"

"You are useless!"

"And you aren't!"

"I don't go around destroying things for petty reasons!"

"It's your fault!"

"My fault!"

"Hey!" Jesse *trying to find out what happened*

"Stay out of this!" -both

*jesse and lukas makes their way over to Petra and the two others, Lukas collaspe next to a statue and tries to catch his breath*

"How did this start?" Jesse

"Left or right. Up or down." Petra

*Jesse is annoyed, she looks at the two heroes*

"Hey, we don't have time for this!" Jesse

"Stay out of this!" - both

"You never listen!"- Ellegaard

"You ruined me!" - Magnus

"Jealous pig!"

"Lying whore!"

"What the heck happened between you two!" - Jesse "you were friends! Comrades! Partners! You built cities together! What the heck happened between you two!"

…..

….

…

"I'm going this way. Stay out of my way, Ellegaard, or I'll show you what a griefer can actually do."

*magnus leave*

*ellegaards looks at them before leaving herself*

"What just happened?" Olivia

"I think Magnus just threatened to kill his ex." Jesse

"... what?!" Olivia and Axel

"They never dated." Lukas *exhausted again*

"I think building a city together is good enough for me to say they were in love." - Jesse

"WHAT?!" Olivia and Axel

"You are explaining this to me right?" Petra

"Yeah but not now." Jesse

"So. What to do." Petra

"I think we should go down different paths from them. If they find anything they'll come get us, right?" Jesse

"They better, or I'll ring both their necks." petra

"So which paths?" Jesse

"Jesse and Lukas and I are taking this one. You two go down there." Petra

"But I think…" Axel

"Lets go you two, we have a lot to talk about." Petra

"We do?" - both J and L

"Yes, we do." Petra

…

…..

….

*they are walking down the path, its really awkward, Jesse wants to talk to lukas*

….

…

"Petra, to be honest, Lukas and I needed to talk… alone." Jesse

"You can trust me. I already know you two have cute crushes on each other." Petra

….

….

"... don't tell me you didn't know?" Petra

"Well…" Jesse

"Petra, we don't have crushes on each other." Lukas

"Lukas!" Jesse

"She *cough*" Lukas

*jesse rubs his back*

"You both can't tell me you have crushes on each other! Look at you!" Petra

"Petra, we are dating." Lukas

…

"What?" Petra

"We are dating. We've been dating for a while now." Jesse

…

"... they don't…" Petra

"Not many people know, or care if they do." Jesse

"Oh, my…" Petra

"Petra. You can't tell them. They'd flip out!" Jesse

….

…

"How long?" Petra

"A year…" *shares look* Jesse "A few days from now?"

*yesterday." *whisper* Lukas

…

"Oh." jesse

….

"it's okay." Lukas

….

….

"That's why you two act so weird around each other, it all makes sense!" Petra *explodes, laughing*

"For someone who was just lied to. You seem happy." Jesse

"You want me mad?" Petra

"No." Both

"Oh my notch. That's why you acted so weird whenever I brought it up!" Petra

…

…

"Petra, can you just accept this for now." Jesse

"... okay. Fine. But I want details." Petra

"Yes, ma'am." Lukas

….

"What are you going to do?" Petra

….

"We have bigger things to worry about." Jesse

"Like the Witherst-" Lukas

*cough*

*choking*

"Lukas…" Petra

"Lukas!" Jesse

….

….

"Is that…" Petra

*lukas spit up a black puddle, lukas' eyes are turning purple*

"What is that? Lukas! You said you just had a cold! This is the second time today I've seen this happen!" Jesse

"That's blood." Petra

"... its black." Jesse

*checking under eyes*

"Your eyes are turning purple. What's wrong lukas! You said you'd be fine!"

"Its Wither." Petra

…

"What." Jesse

"Thats Wither." Petra

Thanks for reading guys,

 **Read the AN at the top of you haven't already. It was great knowing you all. See you soon everyone.**

 **REVIEWS**

 **Diamond Fox xpc- thank you! XD your reviews are absolutely amazing, they were a great motivation for me when I was still into this story. I thank you so very much. For reading for reviewing! Thank you for keeping me going!**

 **Marigold123- what to say about you. You were an amazing reviewer and I appreciate you a lot. Thank you for everything.**

 **TheAmberShow- probably one of my oldest reviewer if not my oldest, thank you for your last review. And thank you for reviewing every chapter, for being so very faithful. You are one of my greatest motivations. I'm sorry I had to end it prematurely. Thank you a million times. Just... thank you.**

 **Blue - thank you for the review. I appreciated it ^-^**

 **Bye.**

 **-kayla**


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